Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on ATO. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Atmos Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE ATO traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $117.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,108,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,178. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.02 and a 200 day moving average of $113.51. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 107.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Atmos Energy by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.