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

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on ATO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Atmos Energy from $196.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus dropped their target price on Atmos Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $190.00 price target on Atmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.42.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATO opened at $177.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $154.23 and a twelve month high of $192.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.47. The stock has a market cap of $29.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.10. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 27.58% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.03 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.500 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Atmos Energy will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Atmos Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Atmos Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Atmos Energy by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.