Brokerages Set ATS Corporation (NYSE:ATS) PT at $42.50

Shares of ATS Corporation (NYSE:ATS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

ATS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of ATS from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ATS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of ATS in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ATS from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ATS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th.

ATS Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of ATS opened at $28.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.36. ATS has a 1-year low of $23.84 and a 1-year high of $35.82.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $535.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $529.43 million. ATS had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ATS will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of ATS by 166.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,297,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,375 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of ATS by 1.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,761,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,884,000 after acquiring an additional 117,291 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ATS by 4.1% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 7,168,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,081,000 after acquiring an additional 279,327 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ATS by 19.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 69,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of ATS by 70.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 167,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,733,000 after acquiring an additional 69,078 shares in the last quarter. 75.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ATS Company Profile

ATS Corporation (NYSE: ATS) is a Canada-based global provider of automation and energy solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, the company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of custom automation and test systems, as well as fluid handling and control products. Since its founding in 1978, ATS has focused on delivering integrated hardware and software solutions that help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) improve efficiency, quality and throughput across a range of industries.

Through its Automation segment, ATS develops bespoke assembly and testing platforms for sectors such as life sciences, consumer electronics, automotive and industrial equipment.