Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Atmos Energy Co. (NYSE:ATO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.15.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America began coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $148.72 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $110.97 and a 1 year high of $154.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.63. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,367,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,836,526,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 10.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,341,640 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,800,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,498,153,000 after buying an additional 362,594 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 211.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,160,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,136,463,000 after purchasing an additional 5,543,451 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,806,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $528,760,000 after purchasing an additional 107,700 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.