ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.36.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in ONE Gas by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,598,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,590,000 after purchasing an additional 272,923 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,555,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,098,000 after purchasing an additional 52,740 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,548,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,682,000 after purchasing an additional 97,346 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,108,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,657,000 after purchasing an additional 147,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,058,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,317,000 after acquiring an additional 366,363 shares during the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Stock Performance

Shares of OGS opened at $66.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.17. ONE Gas has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $75.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.47.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $354.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.06 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 8.37%. ONE Gas’s revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that ONE Gas will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

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.