Cooke & Bieler LP Cuts Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Cooke & Bieler LP cut its Atmos Energy stake by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 296,972 shares and ending with 640,641 shares worth about $107.4 million.
• Other institutional investors were active in ATO as well, with firms like Bank of America and Northwestern Mutual sharply increasing holdings; overall, 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Atmos Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.47 topping estimates and revenue of $1.96 billion also ahead of expectations, while the company reiterated FY2026 EPS guidance of 8.40-8.50.

Cooke & Bieler LP lessened its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 296,972 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 0.39% of Atmos Energy worth $107,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ATO. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 26,269.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,029,781 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $107,729,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,872,162,000 after buying an additional 359,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,815,162,000 after buying an additional 356,942 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Atmos Energy from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $181.50.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $177.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.37 and a 200 day moving average of $177.22. The company has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 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.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 49.14%.

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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