Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Atmos Energy Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average target price of approximately $158.27.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.16 per share, slightly missing analysts' expectations, with revenues totaling $838.77 million.
• Atmos Energy recently announced a dividend payout of $0.87 per share, representing a 2.1% yield and a payout ratio of 47.80%.

Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $158.2727.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $159.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $163.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of ATO opened at $166.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.30. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $133.90 and a 1-year high of $168.86. The stock has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.75.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 25.05%.The business had revenue of $838.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $848.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $282,487,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,652,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $562,851,000 after buying an additional 1,778,653 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 220.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 720,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $111,107,000 after purchasing an additional 495,712 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,791,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,213,925,000 after purchasing an additional 424,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 1st quarter worth $65,333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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