4,335 Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Purchased by Accredited Investors Inc.

Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 3,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 43,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 7,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,608,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:ATO opened at $176.48 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $149.98 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.02. The company has a market cap of $29.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $197.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.50.

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.