ATS (NYSE:ATS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Zacks Research cut shares of ATS (NYSE:ATS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of ATS in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ATS from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ATS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of ATS from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.50.

ATS Trading Down 3.9%

ATS stock opened at $26.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 50.88 and a beta of 1.20. ATS has a 12-month low of $23.84 and a 12-month high of $35.82.

ATS (NYSE:ATS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $535.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $529.43 million. ATS had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 9.40%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ATS will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ATS

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in ATS by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,761,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,884,000 after buying an additional 117,291 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in ATS by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 7,168,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,081,000 after buying an additional 279,327 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ATS by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,397,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,582,000 after buying an additional 55,731 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in ATS by 187.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,022,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,269,000 after buying an additional 1,970,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in ATS by 166.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,297,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,544,000 after buying an additional 1,435,375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.84% of the company’s stock.

About ATS

ATS Corporation (NYSE: ATS) is a Canada-based global provider of automation and energy solutions. Headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, the company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of custom automation and test systems, as well as fluid handling and control products. Since its founding in 1978, ATS has focused on delivering integrated hardware and software solutions that help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) improve efficiency, quality and throughput across a range of industries.

Through its Automation segment, ATS develops bespoke assembly and testing platforms for sectors such as life sciences, consumer electronics, automotive and industrial equipment.