E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Invests $5.19 Million in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 30,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,191,000. Atmos Energy comprises about 2.2% of E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.11.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $179.71 on Thursday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $149.98 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.99.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.14%.

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.