Norges Bank Buys Shares of 1,977,131 Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,977,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,426,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.20% of Atmos Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,582,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 221,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,159,000 after purchasing an additional 12,979 shares during the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $1,620,000. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $3,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ATO. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $167.42 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.97 and its 200-day moving average is $177.09. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $149.98 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $27.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

Atmos Energy Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.