Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR opened a new position in Atmos Energy, buying 206,292 shares valued at about $34.6 million in the fourth quarter.
• Atmos Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.47 versus estimates of $3.37 and revenue of $1.96 billion versus $1.94 billion expected.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, which works out to an annualized $4.00 dividend and a yield of about 2.4%.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 206,292 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $34,582,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. owned 0.12% of Atmos Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,525,687,000 after purchasing an additional 276,485 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,872,162,000 after purchasing an additional 359,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,815,162,000 after purchasing an additional 356,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $703,824,000 after purchasing an additional 78,438 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,737,053 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $638,102,000 after purchasing an additional 84,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $183.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $181.90.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $168.96 on Friday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $149.98 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The company has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.94 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. The company's 50-day moving average price is $183.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.18.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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