Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $181.90.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $169.98 on Tuesday. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $149.98 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $178.50 and its 200 day moving average is $176.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,525,687,000 after purchasing an additional 276,485 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after purchasing an additional 78,438 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,719,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.