ATO vs NI vs SWX Stock Comparison

Atmos Energy, Nisource and Southwest Gas Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ATO Atmos Energy Corp
$172.21 +10.2% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$28.82B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.92B
Div. yield
0.02%
Regulated Gas Utilities Utilities
6 wins
NI Nisource Inc.
$43.27 +10.3% 1M -1.4% 1Y
Market cap
$20.78B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.62B
Div. yield
0.03%
Regulated Gas Utilities Utilities
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Atmos Energy leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Atmos Energy 6, Southwest Gas Holdings 4, Nisource 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionATONISWXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $28.82B $20.78B $6.66B ATO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.6x 22.9x 12.2x SWX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.0x 19.8x 23.0x NI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +89.6% -15.3% NI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 28.5% 7.8% 31.4% SWX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.9% 5.7% 4.6% ATO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.7x 5.5x 3.8x ATO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.03% 0.03% SWX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.0% -1.4% +12.5% SWX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.9%/yr +11.6%/yr +5.7%/yr ATO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 16.1% 18.1% 18.6% ATO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 55/100 61/100 ATO

Percentile Scorecard

ATONISWX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisATONISWX
Valuation 17 #56 of 67 64 #25 of 67 47 #36 of 67
Growth 67 #22 of 65 86 #10 of 65 56 #29 of 65
Profitability 88 #9 of 65 30 #46 of 65 63 #25 of 65
Financial Health 94 #5 of 66 31 #46 of 66 91 #7 of 66
Shareholder Returns 53 #32 of 67 67 #23 of 67 50 #34 of 67
Overall 64 55 61
  • ATO ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • NI ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • SWX ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodATONISWXSPY
1 month +10.2%+10.3%+10.7% -1.0%
3 months -3.9%-7.3%-2.0% +2.9%
6 months -7.1%-9.8%+0.8% +6.4%
Year to date +2.7%+3.6%+13.9% +11.4%
1 year -2.0%-1.4%+12.5% +13.1%
3 years +58.5%+71.5%+59.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +16.6%+19.7%+16.8% +21.5%
5 years +83.1%+72.7%+31.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +12.9%+11.6%+5.7% +10.9%
10 years +140.1%+91.4%+31.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.2%+6.7%+2.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureATONISWXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 16.1%18.1%18.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 16.7%19.4%18.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.200.13-0.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.12-0.080.68 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -20.0%-28.6%-42.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.4%-11.8%-3.1% -2.5%
52-week high $192.29$49.08$94.05 $779.14
52-week low $156.25$38.99$78.83 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleATONISWX
P/E now vs peer median 20.7xmedian 20.8x 22.8xmedian 20.8x 12.1xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 2.8x 1.8xmedian 2.8x 3.8xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 13.1x 12.2xmedian 13.1x 11.7xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -14.4xmedian 36.7x -19.1xmedian 36.7x -13.2xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.7x 1.7xmedian 1.7x 1.6xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.59median 2.27 2.39median 2.27 0.11median 2.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsATONISWX
Revenue $4.92B $11.62B $1.74B
Gross profit $3.95B $10.08B –
Operating income $1.82B $1.86B $499.35M
Net income $1.40B $987.10M $546.61M
Free cash flow -$2.02B -$1.09B -$500.70M
EPS (diluted) $8.28 $1.89 $7.52
Cash & equivalents $525.81M $70.00M $270.52M
Total debt $10.25B $66.15B $3.51B
Shares (diluted) 169.37M 481.20M 72.67M
Enterprise value $27.60B $20.43B $4.55B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricATONISWX
P/E 20.7x 22.8x 12.1x
P/FCF -14.4x -19.1x -13.2x
P/Operating cash flow 14.4x 9.0x 13.9x
P/S 5.9x 1.8x 3.8x
P/B 1.9x 1.7x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 1.7x 1.6x
EV/EBITDA 15.0x 12.2x 11.7x
EV/EBIT 21.3x 20.5x 19.7x
EV/Revenue 7.9x 3.3x 5.7x
EV/FCF -19.2x -35.1x -19.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.2x 16.5x 20.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.59 2.39 0.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricATONISWX
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 89.6% -15.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 25.7% -30.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.3% 115.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 38.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.3% 12.2% 11.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 21.3% 15.0% 16.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 21.1% 1.7% 220.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.7% 11.8% 110.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.3% 0.6% 225.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 9.5% 112.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.6% 11.7% -49.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -14.8% 10.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -47.1% -72.8% -395.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -84.9% -12.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricATONISWX
Gross margin 80.3% 86.8% –
EBITDA margin 52.8% 27.0% 48.5%
Operating margin 37.0% 16.0% 28.7%
Pretax margin 35.6% 9.5% 21.2%
Net margin 28.5% 7.8% 31.4%
FCF margin -41.1% -9.3% -28.8%
Operating cash flow margin 41.0% 19.8% 27.2%
Return on equity 9.3% 8.2% 13.2%
Return on assets 4.5% 2.6% 5.2%
Return on invested capital 5.9% 5.7% 4.6%
Return on capital employed 6.2% 5.7% 5.2%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.3x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 2.3x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricATONISWX
Debt / assets 32.5% 46.4% 33.5%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.5x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.7x 5.5x 3.8x
Debt / FCF -5.1x -16.0x -7.0x
Liabilities / assets 51.7% 68.3% 60.6%
Equity / assets 48.3% 31.7% 39.4%
Interest coverage 12.8x 2.5x –
Current ratio 0.8x 0.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.2x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.0x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 1.65 0.88 1.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricATONISWX
Dividend yield 2.3% 2.7% 2.8%
Net buyback yield -3.7% -1.5% -0.3%
Shareholder yield -1.4% 1.2% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 45.1% 56.7% 33.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) -31.3% -51.5% -36.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 17.4% 10.3% 1.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 15.0% 12.1% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusATONISWX
Forward P/E 21.0xFY2026 19.8xFY2026 23.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.20FY2026 $2.18FY2026 $3.96FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.9%FY2026 +14.7%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.0% +6.9% +34.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.38BFY2026 $6.92BFY2026 $2.01BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.0%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.7% +0.6% -0.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersATONISWX
Held by institutions 96.4% 96.0% 92.9%
Institutions holding 1,044 911 409
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +1.8% +3.4%
Institutions buying 546 501 221
Institutions selling 342 243 116
Buyers to sellers 1.60 2.06 1.91

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ATONISWX
ATO 1.00 0.67 0.65
NI 0.67 1.00 0.57
SWX 0.65 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ATO, NI and SWX?

Atmos Energy (ATO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Atmos Energy (ATO) $28.82B, Nisource (NI) $20.78B, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) $6.66B.

Which stock is cheaper, ATO, NI and SWX?

Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Atmos Energy (ATO) 20.6x, Nisource (NI) 22.9x, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 12.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nisource (NI) is cheapest (Atmos Energy (ATO) 21.0x, Nisource (NI) 19.8x, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 23.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nisource (NI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Atmos Energy (ATO) +6.5%, Nisource (NI) +89.6%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) -15.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) has the highest net margin (Atmos Energy (ATO) 28.5%, Nisource (NI) 7.8%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 31.4%). On return on invested capital, Atmos Energy (ATO) leads (Atmos Energy (ATO) 5.9%, Nisource (NI) 5.7%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 4.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) returned the most: Atmos Energy (ATO) -2.0%, Nisource (NI) -1.4%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) +12.5%. Over five years, Atmos Energy (ATO) compounded fastest (Atmos Energy (ATO) +12.9%/yr, Nisource (NI) +11.6%/yr, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) +5.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) has the highest dividend yield: Atmos Energy (ATO) 0.02%, Nisource (NI) 0.03%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 0.03%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Atmos Energy (ATO) has been the steadiest (Atmos Energy (ATO) 16.1%, Nisource (NI) 18.1%, Southwest Gas Holdings (SWX) 18.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ATO, NI and SWX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Atmos Energy (ATO) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.