BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 50,853 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 318,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,853 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.19% of Atmos Energy worth $53,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 133.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,814,000 after acquiring an additional 22,784 shares during the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,096,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,853,000 after acquiring an additional 20,408 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $901,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Atmos Energy by 186.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,937,000 after acquiring an additional 50,252 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE ATO opened at $168.50 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $182.97 and its 200-day moving average is $177.09. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $149.98 and a one year high of $192.51. The firm has a market cap of $28.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.90.

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.