Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

ATO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE ATO traded up $0.45 on Thursday, hitting $116.56. The stock had a trading volume of 644,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,116. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $116.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.22. 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 $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 281.3% during the 4th quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,208,000 after purchasing an additional 415,054 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 247,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,633,000 after purchasing an additional 61,708 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,141 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 50,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 41,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,824,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.