Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 52.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,242 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Atmos Energy worth $22,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,684,000. Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 289,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,556,000 after buying an additional 30,080 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised 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 worth $1,993,968,000 after buying an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 106,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,870,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen boosted 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on 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 Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $167.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.38 and its 200-day moving average is $176.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.60. 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 12-month low of $149.98 and a 12-month high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 49.14%.

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.