Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Makes New Investment in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATOFree Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $2,624,975,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $431,677,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,426,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,778,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,443,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ATO

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $167.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $173.50 and a 200-day moving average of $178.31. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATOGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.56%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

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