USS Investment Management Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $5,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ATO. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Atmos Energy from $195.00 to $187.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.90.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $176.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $150.51 and a 52 week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 49.14%.

Atmos Energy Company 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.