Summit Global Investments Makes New $905,000 Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,525,687,000 after buying an additional 276,485 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,993,968,000 after acquiring an additional 927,986 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after acquiring an additional 155,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after acquiring an additional 78,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,719,000 after acquiring an additional 416,933 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ATO opened at $169.79 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.17. The stock has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $160.10 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Morgan Stanley set a $196.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.27.

About Atmos Energy

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.