Dearborn Partners LLC Trims Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Dearborn Partners LLC lessened its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,004 shares during the period. Atmos Energy accounts for about 1.7% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Dearborn Partners LLC owned 0.12% of Atmos Energy worth $34,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake 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 worth $562,851,000 after buying an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 26,269.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,033,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,279,000 after buying an additional 1,029,781 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $107,729,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,872,162,000 after buying an additional 359,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $170.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $149.98 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.87. The stock has a market cap of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.90.

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.