MUFG Securities EMEA plc Boosts Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 114.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 133.1% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,814,000 after purchasing an additional 22,784 shares during the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,096,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,853,000 after buying an additional 20,408 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $901,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 186.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,937,000 after buying an additional 50,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:ATO opened at $168.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.09. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $149.98 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. The business 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 previous year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued 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 dividend 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.