Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $155.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set a buy rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $140.69.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Atmos Energy stock opened at $139.85 on Wednesday. Atmos Energy has a 52 week low of $105.27 and a 52 week high of $140.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.57.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The company had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 467.0% during the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the first quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 75.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.