Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $124.33.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 55,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,835,000 after acquiring an additional 12,529 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at about $275,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock opened at $120.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.44. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.19. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. 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.