Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its Atmos Energy stake by 9.9% in the first quarter, selling 35,569 shares and retaining 323,423 shares valued at approximately $59.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.17% of ATO.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with four Buy ratings and ten Hold ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $186.92.
• Atmos Energy beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $3.47 in EPS versus $3.37 expected, while generating $1.96 billion in revenue. The company maintains FY 2026 EPS guidance of $8.40–$8.50 and pays an annualized dividend of $4.00 per share, yielding about 2.3%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 323,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,569 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.19% of Atmos Energy worth $59,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $562,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,653 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 26,269.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,033,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $173,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,993,968,000 after acquiring an additional 927,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth $107,729,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $196.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $177.69 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $173.81 and its 200-day moving average is $177.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $29.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.55 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 is 49.14%.

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.

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