Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Raises Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 328,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,786 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $56,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 4.7% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 447,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,432,000 after purchasing an additional 19,939 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 308.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 5,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 3,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,240,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $186.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $141.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.82. The firm has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $171.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.97.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

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.