Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating, making it the lone strong-buy among analysts covered in the report.
• Despite the upgrade, the overall analyst view remains cautious: the stock still has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.36.
• Atmos Energy recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.47 EPS versus the $3.37 consensus and revenue of $1.96 billion; it also reaffirmed FY2026 guidance of 8.40–8.50 EPS.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price target on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $167.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.36.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO opened at $179.45 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $174.53 and a 200 day moving average of $177.16. The stock has a market cap of $29.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $192.51.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 8.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,312 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 13,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,073,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation NYSE: ATO is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos's core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company's services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.

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