UBS Group Begins Coverage on Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)

Research analysts at UBS Group started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.78% from the stock’s previous close.

ATO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ATO opened at $113.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.44. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $101.00 and a 52-week high of $125.28. The firm has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $114.89 and its 200 day moving average is $113.35.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The utilities provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,347,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,049,467,000 after acquiring an additional 538,578 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,649,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,533,627,000 after buying an additional 912,138 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,772,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,287,188,000 after buying an additional 527,261 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,032,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,162,713,000 after buying an additional 1,041,608 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,090,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,460,000 after buying an additional 100,681 shares during the period. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.