Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its Atmos Energy stake by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 362,757 shares valued at about $61.4 million.
• Atmos Energy beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $3.47 versus the $3.37 consensus and revenue of $1.96 billion, while also guiding FY 2026 EPS to 8.40–8.50.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, payable June 8, which annualizes to $4.00 per share for a 2.2% yield.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 362,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,635 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.22% of Atmos Energy worth $61,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,073,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $197.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $182.11.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $180.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $149.98 and a twelve month high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.96 billion during 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 earned $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.95%.

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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