Trust Co. of Vermont Invests $2.40 Million in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 13,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,525,687,000 after purchasing an additional 276,485 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,719,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director William James Ware acquired 300 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.27.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $170.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $160.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.47 and a 200 day moving average of $178.25.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.56%.

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.