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

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $75.81.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $74.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on ONE Gas from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OGS opened at $75.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.49. ONE Gas has a 12 month low of $59.74 and a 12 month high of $82.25.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $935.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.31 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.70%. ONE Gas’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ONE Gas will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,417,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $485,136,000 after purchasing an additional 147,186 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in ONE Gas by 1.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,397,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,849,000 after buying an additional 33,210 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,151,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,645,000 after buying an additional 26,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 964,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,824,000 after buying an additional 15,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 864,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,849,000 after buying an additional 152,028 shares during the period. 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.