Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $175.6667.

ATO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:ATO opened at $185.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.00. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $141.59 and a 1-year high of $190.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.69.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were 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 was Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 18,148 shares during the period. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth $961,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 33.8% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 133.1% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,814,000 after purchasing an additional 22,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $901,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% 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.