Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ATO. TD Cowen raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus set a $172.00 price objective on Atmos Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.22.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO opened at $168.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.75. Atmos Energy has a 1-year low of $136.16 and a 1-year high of $180.65.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $737.48 million for the quarter. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In other Atmos Energy news, Director Sean Donohue sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.15, for a total transaction of $77,017.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 877 shares in the company, valued at $150,098.55. The trade was a 33.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,723,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.0% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Atmos Energy by 133.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 39,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,814,000 after buying an additional 22,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 479,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,848,000 after purchasing an additional 56,604 shares during the last quarter. 90.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.