Dearborn Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 188,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,443,000. Atmos Energy makes up 1.5% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC owned 0.11% of Atmos Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at about $2,624,975,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,582,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,507,000 after buying an additional 114,836 shares in the last quarter. Opal Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,154,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,558,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $167.18 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 2.93 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.26.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.