Lazard Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 18.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,870 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $15,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 270.2% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATO. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:ATO opened at $177.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.99. The stock has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $154.55 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.