American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,238,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 108,624 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.77% of Atmos Energy worth $211,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 10,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the third quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 3,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.9% in the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $186.79 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $171.56 and its 200 day moving average is $170.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.75. Atmos Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $141.59 and a twelve month high of $187.82.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ATO. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research raised Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Company 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.