ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Shares Acquired by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in ONE Gas were worth $6,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 3,620.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of ONE Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of ONE Gas during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in ONE Gas during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in ONE Gas by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on OGS shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on ONE Gas from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.44.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of OGS opened at $73.43 on Tuesday. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.31 and a 52 week high of $78.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.37 and a 200-day moving average of $72.44.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. The firm had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.58 million. As a group, analysts forecast that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

ONE Gas Profile

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.