Magellan Asset Management Ltd Has $33.50 Million Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Magellan Asset Management boosted its Atmos Energy stake by 30.9% in the first quarter, ending with 181,367 shares valued at about $33.5 million.
• Atmos Energy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.47 versus $3.37 expected and revenue of $1.96 billion versus $1.94 billion estimated.
• The company maintained a steady shareholder return profile, paying a $1.00 quarterly dividend that annualizes to $4.00 per share for a 2.3% yield; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $186.42 price target.

Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 181,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,813 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.11% of Atmos Energy worth $33,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 85.9% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.4%

ATO stock opened at $174.88 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $173.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.52. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $154.23 and a one year high of $192.51. The stock has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earned $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $186.42.

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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