ATS (NYSE:ATS) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

ATS (NYSE:ATS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ATS from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of ATS from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of ATS in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ATS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ATS has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.50.

ATS Stock Performance

ATS stock opened at $26.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 50.88 and a beta of 1.20. ATS has a 1-year low of $23.84 and a 1-year high of $35.82.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.06). ATS had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 2.40%.The company had revenue of $535.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.43 million. As a group, analysts expect that ATS will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ATS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of ATS by 187.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,022,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970,040 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in ATS by 166.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,297,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435,375 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ATS during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,727,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in ATS by 217.5% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,340,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,918,000 after acquiring an additional 918,100 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in ATS by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,644,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,529,000 after acquiring an additional 623,369 shares during the period. 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.