Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Earns Neutral Rating from Bank of America

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by stock analysts at Bank of America in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $185.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $182.00. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.91% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.89.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $176.34 on Thursday. Atmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $136.05 and a fifty-two week high of $179.70. The stock has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.01 and a 200-day moving average of $159.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ATO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter worth about $282,487,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,851,000 after buying an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 220.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 720,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,107,000 after buying an additional 495,712 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,213,925,000 after acquiring an additional 424,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the first quarter worth about $65,333,000. 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.