Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.35.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATO. Mizuho cut shares of Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $165.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.98, for a total transaction of $2,264,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 172,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,063,979.36. This trade represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,213,925,000 after purchasing an additional 424,235 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,136,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,543,451 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,760,000 after acquiring an additional 107,700 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,107,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $432,749,000 after acquiring an additional 223,809 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,078,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,732,000 after acquiring an additional 58,391 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO stock opened at $152.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.79. The company has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.71. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $113.46 and a 12 month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Atmos Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.33%.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated natural gas distribution, and pipeline and storage businesses in the United States. It operates through two segments, Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage. The Distribution segment is involved in the regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations in eight states.