Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Raises Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,408 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Atmos Energy worth $30,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 94.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 220.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 720,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,107,000 after purchasing an additional 495,712 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,162,000 after purchasing an additional 359,780 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,815,162,000 after purchasing an additional 356,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth $57,763,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $189.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $179.65 and its 200 day moving average is $174.11. The stock has a market cap of $31.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.69. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $141.59 and a 1-year high of $190.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ATO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.67.

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.