Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.6% in Q4, selling 10,787 shares and leaving 408,202 shares (about 0.25% ownership) worth roughly $68.4 million, while institutional investors own about 90.17% of the stock.
• Analysts' consensus on ATO is a Hold with a target price of $177.56, and several firms (Citigroup, Barclays, UBS) have recently raised price targets amid a mixed rating mix (1 Strong Buy, 2 Buy, 8 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Atmos beat quarterly EPS ($2.44 vs. $2.41), set FY2026 guidance of $8.15–8.35 (above the ~7.18 analyst projection), and pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.00, ~2.1% yield).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 408,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,787 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Atmos Energy worth $68,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays increased their target price on 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 boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.56.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $188.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $31.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.69. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $149.98 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average is $183.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.61.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. 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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