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

Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.33.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ATO. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ATO stock opened at $118.66 on Thursday. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.81 and a 200-day moving average of $114.14.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 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, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.11%.

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.