Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 39,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,823,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,624,975,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,582,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,507,000 after acquiring an additional 114,836 shares during the last quarter. Opal Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $6,154,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $2,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William James Ware bought 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATO. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $166.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 28.50%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Atmos Energy Company 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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