Aventail Capital Group LP Grows Position in Atmos Energy Corporation $ATO

Aventail Capital Group LP boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 338,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,985 shares during the quarter. Atmos Energy comprises about 2.7% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP owned 0.21% of Atmos Energy worth $57,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 4,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,737,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $638,102,000 after purchasing an additional 84,786 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 43.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 29,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,106,000 after purchasing an additional 9,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 32.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $188.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy Corporation has a one year low of $141.59 and a one year high of $189.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.09 and a 200 day moving average of $172.32.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 25.67%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy Corporation will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 51.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

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.