Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Stock Price

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $167.00 to $184.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Atmos Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $192.00 target price on shares of Atmos Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $163.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.56.

Atmos Energy Price Performance

ATO opened at $189.87 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Atmos Energy has a 52 week low of $142.54 and a 52 week high of $190.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.69.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.03. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.67% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. Atmos Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.150-8.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Atmos Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Atmos Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.95%.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATO. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garner Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Atmos Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in Atmos Energy in the third quarter valued at $29,000. 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.