Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on ATO. Zacks Research raised shares of Atmos Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Atmos Energy from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.67.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $185.14 on Friday. Atmos Energy has a fifty-two week low of $141.59 and a fifty-two week high of $187.98. The company has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.82.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Atmos Energy by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Atmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 90.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.