Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

ATO has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $172.00 target price (down previously from $182.00) on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ATO stock opened at $168.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Atmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $136.16 and a fifty-two week high of $180.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.77. The stock has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.75.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 25.49%.The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This trade represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 625.8% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) is a U.S.-based natural-gas utility that primarily focuses on the regulated distribution of natural gas. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company operates through local distribution systems to deliver natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. Atmos’s core activities include pipeline operations, gas distribution, system maintenance and reliability programs designed to ensure safe and continuous service to its customers.

The company’s services encompass gas delivery, system integrity and maintenance, storage and transmission connections, and customer-facing programs such as billing, conservation initiatives and energy-efficiency offerings.