Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ATO. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a neutral rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $118.08 on Friday. Atmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $101.00 and a fifty-two week high of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.18 and a 200 day moving average of $113.80.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 23.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.11%.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of Atmos Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.