Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 362,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $61,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $107,729,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,872,162,000 after purchasing an additional 359,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,815,162,000 after purchasing an additional 356,942 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth $57,763,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $180.96 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $149.98 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $197.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.11.

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.