ATS Corporation (NYSE:ATS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• ATS has a consensus “Hold” rating from seven brokerages: three buys, two holds and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $42.50.
• Recent analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms downgrading ATS to hold, sell or strong sell, while institutional investors still own a substantial 75.84% of the company.
• ATS reported quarterly EPS of $0.25, below the $0.28 consensus estimate, while revenue of $488.38 million missed expectations and fell 5.8% year over year. Shares opened at $18.29, near their 12-month low of $17.77.

ATS Corporation (NYSE:ATS - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

ATS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities cut ATS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Desjardins began coverage on ATS in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded ATS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ATS from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of ATS from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th.

Institutional Trading of ATS

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in ATS by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,363 shares of the company's stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 18,311 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of ATS during the second quarter valued at $713,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of ATS by 3.0% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,683,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,431,000 after acquiring an additional 49,234 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of ATS during the second quarter worth $1,001,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ATS by 91.6% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,507 shares of the company's stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 22,236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.84% of the company's stock.

ATS Price Performance

ATS stock opened at $18.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. ATS has a 12 month low of $17.77 and a 12 month high of $35.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.68.

ATS (NYSE:ATS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $488.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.71 million. ATS had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 1.60%.The business's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that ATS will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ATS Company Profile

ATS Corporation, also known as ATS Automation Tooling Systems, is an industrial automation company that designs, builds and services automated manufacturing and assembly systems. Its solutions combine robotics, precision machinery, controls, software, machine vision and other technologies to help manufacturers improve production efficiency, quality and repeatability.

The company provides custom automation equipment, standardized automation products, production systems, packaging and material-handling solutions, and related aftermarket services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.