StockNews.com Lowers Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company cut Atmos Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $128.00 in a report on Monday, August 28th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $124.00 to $115.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $122.86.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $112.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $101.00 and a 1-year high of $125.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.88.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $587.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.12 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 20.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 27th will be issued a $0.805 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 24th. This is a boost from Atmos Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Richard M. Thomas sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.20, for a total value of $199,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at $302,630. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Atmos Energy news, VP Richard M. Thomas sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.20, for a total transaction of $199,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,650 shares in the company, valued at $302,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.99, for a total transaction of $1,387,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 199,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,194,892.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Glassman Wealth Services lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 73.3% in the second quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 984.6% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 177.8% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 80.5% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Atmos Energy

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.