State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 17.6% in Q4, buying 9,000 shares to hold 60,010 shares valued at $10.059 million, while about 90.17% of the stock is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $181.11, though several firms have raised targets recently (e.g., Barclays to $184, Citi to $182) and Truist initiated coverage with a $195 target.
• Atmos posted a Q4 EPS beat ($2.44 vs. $2.41), set FY2026 guidance of $8.15–$8.35, and pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend ($4.00 annual, ~2.1% yield) with a payout ratio near 52%.

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $10,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,597,000 after buying an additional 18,148 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $961,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,332 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 133.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,814,000 after purchasing an additional 22,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $901,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. 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 note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $181.11.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $187.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $149.98 and a 52 week high of $192.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $185.31 and its 200 day moving average is $176.56. The firm has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.69.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

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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