Wall Street Zen Downgrades ATS (NYSE:ATS) to Buy

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

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

ATS Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE ATS opened at $31.18 on Friday. ATS has a 12-month low of $20.90 and a 12-month high of $32.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 207.90 and a beta of 1.21.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. ATS had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The firm had revenue of $553.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ATS will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in ATS in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of ATS in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in ATS during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in ATS during the third quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in ATS by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.84% of the company’s stock.

About ATS

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.