Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Price Target Raised to $147.00

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $147.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Atmos Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Atmos Energy from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Argus raised Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Atmos Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

ATO opened at $148.72 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $146.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a 52 week low of $110.97 and a 52 week high of $154.55.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 25.90%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 3.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 11.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 5.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 88,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,299,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Atmos Energy by 6.3% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 36,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,077,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

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.