Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) PT Raised to $140.00 at Morgan Stanley

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $128.00 to $140.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.36% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ATO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Atmos Energy from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Atmos Energy in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Atmos Energy from $134.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.71.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Atmos Energy stock opened at $136.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.68. Atmos Energy has a 12-month low of $101.00 and a 12-month high of $138.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.60.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $701.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.75 million. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Atmos Energy will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Atmos Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atmos Energy during the second quarter worth $2,277,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 462.0% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 67,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,931,000 after buying an additional 55,894 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Atmos Energy by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Atmos Energy by 76.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.17% of the company’s stock.

About Atmos Energy

Atmos Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated natural gas distribution, and pipeline and storage businesses in the United States. It operates through two segments, Distribution, and Pipeline and Storage. The Distribution segment is involved in the regulated natural gas distribution and related sales operations in eight states.