ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.31.

Several research firms recently commented on OGS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 61,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 4.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in ONE Gas by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in ONE Gas by 42.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of ONE Gas stock opened at $75.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.68. ONE Gas has a 1 year low of $58.31 and a 1 year high of $78.89.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.58 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that ONE Gas will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

About ONE Gas

ONE Gas, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a regulated natural gas distribution company in the United States. The company provides natural gas distribution services to approximately 2.3 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. It serves residential, commercial, and transportation customers.