ATS (NYSE:ATS) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

ATS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Desjardins initiated coverage on ATS in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of ATS in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on ATS from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ATS from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut ATS from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ATS has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.50.

ATS Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of ATS stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $27.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 97,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,820. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.21. ATS has a fifty-two week low of $23.84 and a fifty-two week high of $35.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $535.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $529.43 million. ATS had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 2.40%. Research analysts anticipate that ATS will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ATS

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ATS in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of ATS during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of ATS during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in ATS during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in ATS by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. 75.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.