Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Receives $128.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.67.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATO shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $123.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.38.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.48 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total value of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 281.3% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,208,000 after purchasing an additional 415,054 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 247,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,633,000 after purchasing an additional 61,708 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 7,141 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after purchasing an additional 50,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 41,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.