Jefferies Financial Group Lowers ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Price Target to $76.00

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $79.00 to $76.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

OGS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

ONE Gas Price Performance

OGS stock opened at $69.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.71. ONE Gas has a 52-week low of $57.74 and a 52-week high of $78.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ONE Gas will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ONE Gas by 42.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in ONE Gas by 17.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in ONE Gas by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 266.0% in the 3rd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONE Gas Company 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.