Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) Receives $173.22 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $173.2222.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ATO shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $172.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Atmos Energy stock opened at $170.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.77. Atmos Energy has a 12 month low of $138.77 and a 12 month high of $180.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.55. 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 (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The firm had revenue of $737.48 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.40%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,098.55. This represents a 33.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATO. Capital International Investors increased its position in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 10,965,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,872,162,000 after buying an additional 359,780 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,630,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,815,162,000 after purchasing an additional 356,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,073,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $625,180,000 after buying an additional 63,166 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,737,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $638,102,000 after buying an additional 84,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,099,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $529,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

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.