Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ATO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $117.20 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.51. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Atmos Energy has a 1 year low of $101.00 and a 1 year high of $125.28.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced 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 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 2,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 11,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% 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.