ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on OGS. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.69.

ONE Gas Stock Performance

ONE Gas stock opened at $69.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50. ONE Gas has a one year low of $57.74 and a one year high of $78.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 0.70.

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

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OGS. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in ONE Gas in the third quarter valued at about $3,135,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in ONE Gas by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 701,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,785,000 after acquiring an additional 31,045 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of ONE Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ONE Gas during the third quarter valued at $422,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 234.1% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 60,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,539,000 after buying an additional 42,724 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.