Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,863 Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE ATO opened at $173.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $149.98 and a 12 month high of $192.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.65 and a 200-day moving average of $177.24.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 currently 49.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $181.50.

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.