Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $9.15 Million in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 53,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,146,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ATO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $2,624,975,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,582,000. Opal Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,154,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 486,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,507,000 after acquiring an additional 114,836 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,558,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William James Ware purchased 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO stock opened at $166.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.17. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $160.10 and a 12 month high of $192.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $188.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Four research 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, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.73.

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.