Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight by Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo reaffirmed its Overweight rating on Atmos Energy and set a $201 price target, implying about 16.1% upside from the cited share price.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat reported a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $183.36, below Wells Fargo’s target.
• Atmos Energy’s latest quarterly EPS of $1.17 beat the $1.14 estimate, while revenue of $837 million fell short of analysts’ $873.77 million forecast.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $201.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.13% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ATO. Weiss Ratings cut Atmos Energy from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Atmos Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $198.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Atmos Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $173.07. The stock had a trading volume of 102,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,505. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.22. Atmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $154.72 and a fifty-two week high of $192.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $837.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director William Ware acquired 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 488 shares in the company, valued at $81,783.92. This represents a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 627.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Downshift Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 2,514.3% in the 3rd quarter. Downshift Financial LLC now owns 183 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company's stock.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation NYSE: ATO is a regulated natural gas utility that distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. The company also operates natural gas pipeline and storage assets, supporting the transportation and management of gas within its service areas.

Atmos Energy serves more than 3 million distribution customers across eight states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas and Colorado. Its distribution operations include a large network of natural gas pipelines and related infrastructure, while its pipeline and storage business provides transportation and storage services primarily in Texas and Mississippi.

The company traces its history to 1906 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

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