Analysts Set Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) PT at $129.17

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $128.67.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ATO. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $121.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Atmos Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $116.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.55. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $101.00 and a 12 month high of $125.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 24.65%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. Atmos Energy’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Diana J. Walters sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.00, for a total transaction of $47,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,018. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,314,641,000 after purchasing an additional 127,199 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,482,000 after acquiring an additional 58,966 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,243,000 after acquiring an additional 83,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,489,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,595,000 after acquiring an additional 50,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.