Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

Equities researchers at Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ATO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup increased 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.78.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.1%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $186.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $149.98 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $184.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.09.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,552,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 6.8% in the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.6% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 25,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,677,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $976,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,166,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Atmos Energy

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.