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

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $133.17.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

ATO opened at $131.84 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.11. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $133.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 30,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.