Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO Shares Bought by Sienna Gestion

Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,618 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $9,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,213,925,000 after acquiring an additional 424,235 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 24.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,317,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,659,000 after acquiring an additional 257,341 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 9.3% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,011,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,868,000 after acquiring an additional 86,472 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 950,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $146,940,000 after acquiring an additional 34,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 895,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,422,000 after acquiring an additional 91,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays set a $175.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 target price (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and set a $163.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $172.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.91. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $136.05 and a 52 week high of $179.70.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $754.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.97 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 47.80%.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated natural gas distribution, and pipeline and storage businesses in the United States. It operates through two segments, Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage. The Distribution segment is involved in the regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations in eight states.