Magellan Asset Management Ltd Takes $32.20 Million Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 186,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,203,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 627.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $167.16 on Monday. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $192.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $879.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.56%.

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.