Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

Key Points

• Truist Financial initiated coverage on Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) with a Hold rating and a $195 price target, implying roughly a 4.6% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst consensus remains a Hold with a $180.78 average target after a mix of recent upgrades and target increases from firms including Weiss, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Barclays.
• Atmos recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.44 vs. $2.41; revenue $1.34B vs. $1.21B), provided FY2026 guidance of $8.15–$8.35 EPS (street ~8.26), and trades at a ~24.2 PE with a $30.8B market cap and about 90% institutional ownership.

Equities researchers at Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating and a $195.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Truist Financial's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.64% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Atmos Energy from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $180.78.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $186.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $184.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.09. The stock has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 1 year low of $149.98 and a 1 year high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the 1st 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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