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

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat 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 brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.69.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th.

ONE Gas Price Performance

OGS opened at $67.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.54. ONE Gas has a 1 year low of $57.74 and a 1 year high of $78.89. 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 (NYSE:OGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that ONE Gas will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OGS. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in ONE Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of ONE Gas by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in ONE Gas by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 210,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,435,000 after buying an additional 7,680 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ONE Gas by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,470,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,873,000 after buying an additional 10,189 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in ONE Gas by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

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.