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

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

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America began coverage on ONE Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.31.

ONE Gas Stock Performance

NYSE OGS opened at $72.39 on Thursday. ONE Gas has a 52-week low of $57.74 and a 52-week high of $78.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.14 and a 200-day moving average of $71.42. 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 (NYSE:OGS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.58 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ONE Gas will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ONE Gas by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,270,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $434,253,000 after acquiring an additional 41,933 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 22.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,470,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,283,000 after purchasing an additional 645,566 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,124,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,152,000 after purchasing an additional 25,145 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,836,000 after buying an additional 18,477 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,058,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,302,000 after buying an additional 9,302 shares during the last quarter. 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.