Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO – Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,870 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $15,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,525,687,000 after acquiring an additional 276,485 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,993,968,000 after acquiring an additional 927,986 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Atmos Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after purchasing an additional 78,438 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,737,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $638,102,000 after purchasing an additional 84,786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ATO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $196.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.92.
Atmos Energy Price Performance
ATO opened at $177.69 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.99. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $154.55 and a 12-month high of $192.51. The firm has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.
Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current year.
Atmos Energy Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.14%.
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.
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