Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ATO. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Atmos Energy from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Atmos Energy from $193.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus lowered their price target on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $173.19 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.12. Atmos Energy has a 52-week low of $155.56 and a 52-week high of $192.51. The firm has a market cap of $28.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 27.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atmos Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ATO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,032,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,525,687,000 after acquiring an additional 276,485 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,893,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,993,968,000 after purchasing an additional 927,986 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,786,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,808,117,000 after purchasing an additional 155,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,214,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,824,000 after purchasing an additional 78,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,199,433 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $775,719,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.