StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $107.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $123.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.88.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $114.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $122.96. The company has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.29.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.02). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.84%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.14, for a total transaction of $1,464,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 228,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,807,020.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter worth $4,131,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 556,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,443,000 after purchasing an additional 36,977 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 91,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,882,000 after purchasing an additional 39,843 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 1st quarter worth $494,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.03% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

(Get Rating)

Atmos Energy Corp. engages in the provision of natural gas services. It operates under the Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage business segments. The Distribution segment is involved in regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations. The Pipeline and Storage segment includes pipeline and storage operations of Atmos Pipeline-Texas division and natural gas transmission operations.