AGP Franklin LLC Lowers Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

AGP Franklin LLC decreased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 26.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,955 shares during the quarter. AGP Franklin LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 85.9% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 270.2% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.4%

ATO stock opened at $169.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $149.98 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.48.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ATO shares. Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Company 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.