Brokerages Set Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Target Price at $175.67

Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $175.6667.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 816,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,888,000 after purchasing an additional 286,406 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 14,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 57,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,694,000 after buying an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Targeted Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $837,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $189.00 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $180.13 and its 200 day moving average is $174.35. The stock has a market cap of $31.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.69. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $141.59 and a 52-week high of $190.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.95%.

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.