AlphaQuest LLC Takes Position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 9,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in 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 worth $258,283,000 after acquiring an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,836,000 after purchasing an additional 18,477 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,058,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,302,000 after purchasing an additional 9,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 783,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,239,000 after purchasing an additional 24,860 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 701,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,785,000 after buying an additional 31,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OGS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America started 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.31.

ONE Gas Price Performance

ONE Gas stock opened at $73.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.42 and a 200-day moving average of $72.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.64. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.31 and a 52 week high of $78.89.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.58 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 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 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.