Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in ONE Gas were worth $991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of ONE Gas by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,721 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 21,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc acquired a new position in ONE Gas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $278,000. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONE Gas Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:OGS opened at $61.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.41. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.50 and a 12-month high of $83.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27. The firm had revenue of $605.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.77 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 9.75%. ONE Gas’s revenue was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OGS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on ONE Gas from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on ONE Gas from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded ONE Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday. They set a “sell” rating and a $61.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.44.

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.