Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Purchases 27,957 Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 27,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,374,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter valued at $2,624,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,719,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $431,677,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,823,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $314,171,000 after purchasing an additional 520,828 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $276,558,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William Ware purchased 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $161.69 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $164.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.79. The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.81. Atmos Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $154.72 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $879.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.82 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 28.50%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.58.

Atmos Energy Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation is a regulated natural gas distribution and pipeline company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers and is one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States.

Atmos Energy operates through two primary businesses: natural gas distribution and pipeline and storage operations. Its distribution activities include acquiring, transporting, storing and delivering natural gas, while its pipeline operations provide transportation and storage services and support the company’s distribution network.

The company serves customers across eight states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.