Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Increases Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 11.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,556 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $8,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. This represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.3%

ATO stock opened at $181.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $141.59 and a one year high of $182.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $170.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.46.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 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, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.95%.

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.