Man Group plc Makes New $14.37 Million Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 83,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,367,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ATO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth $2,624,975,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after buying an additional 78,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,719,000 after buying an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the acquisition, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $167.18 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.26.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 47.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ATO. Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus reduced their price objective on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.73.

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.