Westerkirk Capital Inc. Has $2.16 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Westerkirk Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,232 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $625,180,000 after purchasing an additional 63,166 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,082,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,019,000 after buying an additional 91,254 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Atmos Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,949,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $332,877,000 after buying an additional 50,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $282,487,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $180.91 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $170.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.23. The firm has a market cap of $29.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $141.59 and a 12 month high of $181.08.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.95%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

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.