Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.3333.

ATO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $174.28 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy has a one year low of $141.52 and a one year high of $180.65. The company has a market cap of $28.83 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total value of $77,017.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ATO. Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 11,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 153,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,614 shares during the period. Capital Innovations LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $666,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 303.7% in the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 9,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 7,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.