Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 8,136 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Patton Fund Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 27.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,136 shares during the period. Atmos Energy comprises about 0.7% of Patton Fund Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $3,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.60.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $174.68 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.57. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $149.98 and a one year high of $192.51. The firm has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.14%.

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.