IFM Investors Pty Ltd Trims Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,419 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $7,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ATO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 26,269.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,033,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,781 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after acquiring an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $107,729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.90.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $176.66 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $150.51 and a 1-year high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same period last year, the company 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 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.14%.

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.