MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC Makes New $4.99 Million Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,985,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,624,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $720,212,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,677,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $276,558,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth about $202,443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (down from $198.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.58.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.51. The stock had a trading volume of 190,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,640. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.47. The company has a market capitalization of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.57. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $154.72 and a 52 week high of $192.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William Ware purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation is a regulated natural gas distribution and pipeline company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers and is one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States.

Atmos Energy operates through two primary businesses: natural gas distribution and pipeline and storage operations. Its distribution activities include acquiring, transporting, storing and delivering natural gas, while its pipeline operations provide transportation and storage services and support the company’s distribution network.

The company serves customers across eight states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.