Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ATO. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday. They set a hold rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $140.69.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ATO opened at $139.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.57. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $105.27 and a 12-month high of $140.04.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. The firm had revenue of $701.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 26th. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.28%.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the second quarter valued at $2,277,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 462.0% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 67,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,931,000 after acquiring an additional 55,894 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.4% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.4% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Atmos Energy

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.