Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

ATO has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price target on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a hold rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $140.69.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $139.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.57. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $105.27 and a twelve month high of $140.04. The company has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were paid a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ATO. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,941,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 1,532.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 218,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after purchasing an additional 205,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 730,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,240,000 after purchasing an additional 196,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.