Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 1,029,781 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 26,269.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,033,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,029,781 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $173,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after buying an additional 1,778,653 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $107,729,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,162,000 after buying an additional 359,780 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,162,000 after buying an additional 356,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,763,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $176.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $149.98 and a 12 month high of $192.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.02.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 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 business had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.50.

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.