ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.69.

Several research firms recently issued reports on OGS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on ONE Gas in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $79.00 target price on the stock.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OGS opened at $70.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. ONE Gas has a fifty-two week low of $57.74 and a fifty-two week high of $78.89.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.48 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that ONE Gas will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in ONE Gas by 72.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 44.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 6.0% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 273,100.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 5,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ONE Gas by 4.6% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 7,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

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.