Swiss National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 7.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 474,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $87,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TABR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,096,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,582,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,853,000 after acquiring an additional 20,408 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,507,000 after acquiring an additional 114,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 186.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,937,000 after acquiring an additional 50,252 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Argus lowered their price objective on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.42.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $177.38 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $29.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.47. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $154.23 and a 12 month high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous 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 anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Atmos Energy Company 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.