Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Cuts Stake in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 697,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 47,674 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy accounts for 1.4% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Atmos Energy were worth $119,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 30.4% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 10,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ATO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATO opened at $184.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.02. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $141.59 and a 52 week high of $187.98. 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 capitalization of $30.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.74.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.95%.

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.