Patton Fund Management Inc. Has $4.93 Million Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 48.7% in Q4, owning 29,388 shares valued at about $4.93 million after buying an additional 9,631 shares.
• Atmos Energy beat Q4 expectations with $2.44 EPS and $1.34 billion in revenue, and set FY 2026 guidance of 8.150–8.350 EPS; Wall Street's consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $177.56.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.00 (annualized $4.00, yield 2.1%) and is highly institutionally owned, with institutions holding 90.17% of the stock.

Patton Fund Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 48.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,631 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $4,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 105.4% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 191 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.5%

ATO opened at $187.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $31.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.47. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $149.98 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.56.

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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