Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Given Overweight Rating at Wells Fargo & Company

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $201.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.13% from the company’s current price.

ATO has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $179.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $173.00 to $167.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Atmos Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $198.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.36.

Atmos Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Atmos Energy stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $173.07. 102,043 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,209,505. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.22. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $154.72 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.56.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $837.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $873.77 million. Atmos Energy had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Ware purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $167.59 per share, for a total transaction of $50,277.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,783.92. The trade was a 159.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,624,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Atmos Energy by 11.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Atmos Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $431,677,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Atmos Energy by 40.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,823,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $314,171,000 after buying an additional 520,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth $276,558,000. Institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE:ATO) is a regulated natural gas utility that distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. The company also operates natural gas pipeline and storage assets, supporting the transportation and management of gas within its service areas.

Atmos Energy serves more than 3 million distribution customers across eight states, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas and Colorado. Its distribution operations include a large network of natural gas pipelines and related infrastructure, while its pipeline and storage business provides transportation and storage services primarily in Texas and Mississippi.

The company traces its history to 1906 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.