Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Makes New $701,000 Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,203,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,270,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $833,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,195,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,412,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ATO. TD Cowen increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $167.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.31. The company has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $160.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 28.50%.The company had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.