Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stock Position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,257 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in ONE Gas were worth $3,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in ONE Gas during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,135,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in ONE Gas by 113.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 22,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 12,060 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in ONE Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake 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 valued at $4,539,000 after acquiring an additional 42,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in ONE Gas by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONE Gas Stock Performance

NYSE OGS opened at $74.12 on Friday. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.31 and a 1-year high of $78.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.58 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OGS shares. Bank of America started coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on ONE Gas from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ONE Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.44.

ONE Gas Company Profile

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.