188,269 Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Bought by Dearborn Partners LLC

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners acquired 188,269 Atmos Energy shares worth approximately $34.8 million, making the utility stock 1.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 90.17% of Atmos Energy.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with four Buy ratings and nine Hold ratings; the consensus rating is Hold and the average price target is $187.73.
• Atmos Energy exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.43 in EPS versus the $1.35 estimate, and declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 188,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $34,777,000. Atmos Energy comprises approximately 1.9% of Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Dearborn Partners LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Atmos Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,624,975,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $431,677,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $202,443,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director William James Ware acquired 300 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $167.85 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $173.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.34. The company has a market capitalization of $28.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.

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