Caprock Group LLC Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,180,000 after acquiring an additional 63,166 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,082,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,019,000 after acquiring an additional 91,254 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,949,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $332,877,000 after purchasing an additional 50,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $282,487,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Zacks Research raised Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $179.16 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.53. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $141.59 and a twelve month high of $180.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $29.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.75.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 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 year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.95%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the sale, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Atmos Energy

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.