Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Receives $124.33 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $124.33.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on 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 began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th.

Insider Activity at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third 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. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during 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 period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $119.32 on Thursday. Atmos Energy has a 52 week low of $101.00 and a 52 week high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $116.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.23. 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 (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 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 period last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 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.