Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Raised 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 issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ATO. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday. They issued a buy rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $134.71.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $134.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $136.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.89. The company has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $2,277,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 462.0% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 67,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,931,000 after buying an additional 55,894 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after buying an additional 2,952 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in Atmos Energy by 76.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.