Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $147.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $148.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.55. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $110.97 and a 1-year high of $154.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. Analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATO. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,136,463,000 after acquiring an additional 5,543,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $206,538,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,745,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,906,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,640 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 541.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,525,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 146.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,713,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.