Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.19 EPS

Atmos Energy (NYSE:ATO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.19, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Atmos Energy had a net margin of 23.43% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. Atmos Energy updated its FY24 guidance to $6.70-6.80 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 6.700-6.800 EPS.

Atmos Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Atmos Energy stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $120.59. 982,233 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 807,761. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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.

Atmos Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Atmos Energy in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Atmos Energy from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Atmos Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Insider Transactions at Atmos Energy

In related news, Director Kim R. Cocklin sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 186,339 shares in the company, valued at $21,701,039.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.50% 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.