PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 11,318 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 886,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,318 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $163,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,073,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:ATO opened at $178.47 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $154.23 and a 12-month high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATO. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Four analysts have 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.92.

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.