Wells Fargo & Company Increases Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Price Target to $130.00

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Free Report) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $121.00 to $130.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $124.67.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock traded down $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $117.18. 2,929,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 682,424. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Atmos Energy's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.805 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Atmos Energy's payout ratio is 51.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,472,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,314,641,000 after purchasing an additional 127,199 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,997,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,616,000 after purchasing an additional 24,962 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $168,482,000 after buying an additional 58,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,575,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $187,243,000 after buying an additional 83,661 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.