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

by · The Cerbat Gem

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.33.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ATO

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $113.99 on Friday. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $114.89 and its 200 day moving average is $113.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,757,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after buying an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,627,000 after buying an additional 912,138 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,962,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,815,000 after buying an additional 547,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,756,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,399,000 after buying an additional 533,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

(Get Free Report

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.

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