3,873 Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Purchased by Focused Alpha LLC

Focused Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,525,687,000 after acquiring an additional 276,485 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $2,624,975,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,808,117,000 after acquiring an additional 155,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after purchasing an additional 78,438 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $170.12 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.47 and its 200-day moving average is $178.25. The company has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The business had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 47.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho reduced their target price 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, May 29th. Argus decreased their target price 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 downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.27.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware acquired 300 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company 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.