Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Decreases Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Generali Asset Management reduced its Atmos Energy stake by 37.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,535 shares and leaving it with 14,417 shares valued at about $2.42 million.
• Atmos Energy reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.47 versus the $3.37 estimate and revenue of $1.96 billion versus $1.94 billion expected. The company also raised its FY 2026 guidance to 8.40–8.50 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, implying a 2.2% annual yield, while analysts currently maintain a Hold consensus with a price target of $182.11.

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR cut its position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,535 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $2,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 25,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,343,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,009,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $180.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.87. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $149.98 and a 52 week high of $192.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. 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 8.3 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.00 dividend. 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 currently 49.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ATO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $197.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and ten have given 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 $182.11.

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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