Kinloch Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Kinloch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 24,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,269,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,624,975,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,677,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,778,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $276,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.73.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $167.85 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $173.54 and its 200 day moving average is $178.34. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.10 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The stock has a market cap of $28.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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