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

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.44.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. StockNews.com raised ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company.

ONE Gas Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of OGS stock opened at $73.74 on Friday. ONE Gas has a fifty-two week low of $58.31 and a fifty-two week high of $78.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.49.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $630.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.58 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. Equities analysts expect that ONE Gas will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 3.63%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 22.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,470,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,283,000 after acquiring an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ONE Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $43,344,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 1,421.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 489,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,865,000 after purchasing an additional 456,891 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 821,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,914,000 after purchasing an additional 310,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 320.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 402,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,980,000 after buying an additional 306,974 shares in the last quarter. 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.