M&G PLC Has $35.93 Million Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

M&G PLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,331 shares during the period. M&G PLC owned about 0.13% of Atmos Energy worth $35,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $625,180,000 after purchasing an additional 63,166 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,082,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,019,000 after buying an additional 91,254 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,949,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $332,877,000 after acquiring an additional 50,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $282,487,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ATO shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $179.16 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $141.59 and a 12-month high of $180.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 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 Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

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.