Barclays Raises Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Price Target to $144.00

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $129.00 to $144.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on ATO. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued a hold rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $144.00 to $150.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $142.56.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ATO opened at $138.04 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $133.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.06. The company has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy has a 1 year low of $105.44 and a 1 year high of $140.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 25.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th were given a $0.805 dividend. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 48.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 20.9% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 9,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Atmos Energy by 9.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the period. 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.