Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) had its target price upped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $121.00 to $130.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.94% from the stock’s current price.
Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ATO. Barclays lifted their price target 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. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.67.
Get Our Latest Analysis on ATO
Atmos Energy Stock Down 2.1 %
Shares of ATO opened at $117.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.74 and a 200 day moving average of $114.58. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28.
Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.
Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy
In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $137,757,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,162,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,608 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after purchasing an additional 538,578 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 46.2% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,411,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 446,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 562,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,208,000 after purchasing an additional 415,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.
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Source: defenseworld.net
