Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.70-6.80 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61. Atmos Energy also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.700-6.800 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Atmos Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Atmos Energy in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set a neutral rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $124.33.

Atmos Energy Stock Performance

ATO stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $120.59. 982,233 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 807,761. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Atmos Energy has a twelve month low of $101.00 and a twelve month high of $125.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66.

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.19. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Atmos Energy will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Atmos Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.805 per share. This represents a $3.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Atmos Energy’s payout ratio is 51.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $1,746,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 186,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Atmos Energy Company Profile

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.