Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 30,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,759,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,624,975,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,608,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 474.7% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 4,932 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 176.7% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 22,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,895,000 after buying an additional 14,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth about $720,212,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Atmos Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Atmos Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating and set a $201 price target, about 16% above the cited share price—an endorsement that may support investor sentiment. Wells Fargo rating
• Positive Sentiment: Atmos reported fiscal Q4 EPS of $1.17, beating the $1.14 consensus and rising from $1.07 a year earlier. Coverage attributed the beat to higher rates and operating strength. Q4 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: The company plans $29 billion in capital spending over five years and is targeting 6%–8% EPS growth from the fiscal 2027 midpoint, signaling continued infrastructure investment and earnings growth ambitions. Five-year investment plan
• Positive Sentiment: Atmos raised its quarterly dividend 9%, from $1.00 to $1.09 per share, indicating a higher shareholder payout. Dividend increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Fiscal Q4 revenue was $837 million, below analyst expectations of roughly $874 million. The earnings beat was therefore not matched by revenue. Quarterly results

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Atmos Energy from $173.00 to $167.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $198.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William Ware purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $167.59 per share, with a total value of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. This trade represents a 159.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock traded down $1.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $173.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,012,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,063,740. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.24. The company has a market capitalization of $29.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.56. Atmos Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $154.72 and a 52 week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $837.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 28.50% and a return on equity of 9.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 23rd. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.00%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile