Wall Street Zen Upgrades Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) to Hold

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $192.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Atmos Energy from $187.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Argus decreased their target price on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $182.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.92.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ATO opened at $178.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.82. The stock has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Atmos Energy has a one year low of $154.23 and a one year high of $192.51.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atmos Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Atmos Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Atmos Energy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atmos Energy by 627.3% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Atmos Energy by 270.2% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.