Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $140.10 and last traded at $139.88, with a volume of 56202 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ATO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $129.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.56.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The business had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Atmos Energy Co. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $235,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $274,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 6,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 453,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,844,000 after acquiring an additional 31,714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.