ATS (NYSE:ATS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

ATS (NYSE:ATS) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ATS. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of ATS in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ATS in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of ATS in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded ATS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ATS from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

ATS Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of ATS opened at $31.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 207.90 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.68. ATS has a 52-week low of $20.90 and a 52-week high of $32.73.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. ATS had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 0.77%.The company had revenue of $553.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that ATS will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in ATS by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 12,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ATS in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of ATS by 364.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 287,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,929,000 after buying an additional 225,923 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of ATS by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 184,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after buying an additional 35,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in ATS by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,519,000 after buying an additional 5,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.84% of the company’s stock.

ATS Company Profile

ATS Corporation (NYSE: ATS) is a Canada-based global provider of automation and energy solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, the company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of custom automation and test systems, as well as fluid handling and control products. Since its founding in 1978, ATS has focused on delivering integrated hardware and software solutions that help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) improve efficiency, quality and throughput across a range of industries.

Through its Automation segment, ATS develops bespoke assembly and testing platforms for sectors such as life sciences, consumer electronics, automotive and industrial equipment.