Atmos Energy (ATO) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) will be posting its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, May 8th. Analysts expect Atmos Energy to post earnings of $2.66 per share for the quarter. Individual that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect Atmos Energy to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $117.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.11. The company has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

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.