Atmos Energy vs National Fuel Gas
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The short version
- Atmos Energy is the larger business, with $4.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.3B for National Fuel Gas, about 2.1 times as much.
- National Fuel Gas grew revenue faster (17.1%, against 12.9%).
- National Fuel Gas kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (35.7% operating margin, against 33.2%).
- National Fuel Gas turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.2% FCF margin, against −32.2%).
- National Fuel Gas earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.6%, against 6.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Atmos Energy’s earnings: a P/E of 20.5x against 11.2x for National Fuel Gas.
| Latest fiscal year | ATO · FY25 | NFG · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $29.2B | $7.7B |
| Revenue | $4.7B | $2.3B |
| Free cash flow | −$1.5B | $187M |
| Net income | $1.2B | $519M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 12.9% | 17.1% |
| 5-year growth | 10.8% | 8.1% |
| Share count change | 5.2% | −1.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 33.2% | 35.7% |
| Net margin | 25.5% | 22.8% |
| FCF margin | −32.2% | 8.2% |
| Return on capital | 6.0% | 10.6% |
| Return on equity | 9.3% | 33.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $8.8B | $2.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.8x | 2.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $554M | $243M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.5x | 11.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 8 |
Revenue
FY16
ATO $2.5B
NFG $1.5B
FY17
ATO $2.8B
NFG $1.6B
FY18
ATO $3.1B
NFG $1.6B
FY19
ATO $2.9B
NFG $1.7B
FY20
ATO $2.8B
NFG $1.5B
FY21
ATO $3.4B
NFG $1.7B
FY22
ATO $4.2B
NFG $2.2B
FY23
ATO $4.3B
NFG $2.2B
FY24
ATO $4.2B
NFG $1.9B
FY25
ATO $4.7B
NFG $2.3B
ATO
NFG
Operating margin
FY16
ATO 26.8%
NFG −28.7%
FY17
ATO 26.7%
NFG 37.6%
FY18
ATO 23.4%
NFG 32.6%
FY19
ATO 25.7%
NFG 30.2%
FY20
ATO 29.2%
NFG 1.9%
FY21
ATO 26.6%
NFG 36.7%
FY22
ATO 21.9%
NFG 37.3%
FY23
ATO 25.0%
NFG 34.7%
FY24
ATO 32.5%
NFG 10.8%
FY25
ATO 33.2%
NFG 35.7%
ATO
NFG
Free cash flow
FY16
ATO −$292M
NFG $7.4M
FY17
ATO −$270M
NFG $234M
FY18
ATO −$343M
NFG $31.3M
FY19
ATO −$725M
NFG −$94.5M
FY20
ATO −$898M
NFG $24.7M
FY21
ATO −$3.1B
NFG $39.8M
FY22
ATO −$1.5B
NFG $0.7M
FY23
ATO $654M
NFG $227M
FY24
ATO −$1.2B
NFG $135M
FY25
ATO −$1.5B
NFG $187M
ATO
NFG
Return on capital
FY16
ATO 6.6%
NFG −8.8%
FY17
ATO 6.6%
NFG 10.8%
FY18
ATO 9.1%
NFG 14.1%
FY19
ATO 6.5%
NFG 9.8%
FY20
ATO 6.3%
NFG 0.5%
FY21
ATO 5.6%
NFG 10.6%
FY22
ATO 5.1%
NFG 14.6%
FY23
ATO 5.4%
NFG 10.9%
FY24
ATO 6.1%
NFG 3.3%
FY25
ATO 6.0%
NFG 10.6%
ATO
NFG
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.