ProShare Advisors LLC Has $160.54 Million Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,041,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 209,698 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $160,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATO. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 27.7% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 808.5% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 112,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,334,000 after purchasing an additional 100,100 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 332,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,249,000 after buying an additional 14,881 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 118,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,288,000 after buying an additional 9,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 177.1% in the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 4,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $159.00 price target (up from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.44.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $176.96 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $170.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.17. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $136.05 and a fifty-two week high of $180.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.06. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.05% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The business had revenue of $754.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is presently 53.40%.

Atmos Energy Profile

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.