Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,975,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,963 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.22% of Atmos Energy worth $331,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $190.53 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $147.33 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.56.

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.