Bank of Nova Scotia Has $7.39 Million Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 45.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 32,987 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $7,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $173,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,781 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth $107,729,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:ATO opened at $178.26 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.23 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.82.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.The business had revenue of $1.96 billion during 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Argus lowered 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, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.92.

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.