ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $84.11 and last traded at $83.37, with a volume of 13059 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $82.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on ONE Gas from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded ONE Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of ONE Gas in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on ONE Gas from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on ONE Gas from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.57.

ONE Gas Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 62.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OGS. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 1,393.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,597,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,492 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in ONE Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,922,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 187.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 550,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,560,000 after buying an additional 358,779 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in ONE Gas by 1,811.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 256,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,432,000 after buying an additional 243,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONE Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $16,354,000. 88.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Company Profile

ONE Gas, Inc is a publicly traded natural gas utility company focused on the regulated distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the company owns and operates an integrated system of transmission and distribution pipelines, storage facilities and compressor stations designed to deliver safe, reliable energy to end users. Its operations are governed by state utility commissions, which set rates and service standards in the markets the company serves.

The company’s service territory spans three states: Oklahoma, Kansas and the Texas Panhandle.