Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Receives $129.17 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $129.17.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATO. StockNews.com raised Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 14th.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

ATO stock opened at $116.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.49.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,018. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Atmos Energy by 200.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 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.