Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $156.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $164.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $163.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.27.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Atmos Energy stock opened at $165.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $156.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $128.12 and a 12-month high of $167.45.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $838.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $848.97 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 208,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,117,000 after buying an additional 5,476 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 70,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,930,000 after buying an additional 21,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 3,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 1,277 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.