ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Rating Increased to Hold at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on OGS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.31.

ONE Gas Stock Down 0.3 %

ONE Gas stock opened at $74.34 on Monday. ONE Gas has a 1-year low of $58.31 and a 1-year high of $78.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. 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 50 day simple moving average of $71.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.32.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. The business had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.58 million. On average, analysts predict that ONE Gas will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.67 dividend. 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 yield of 3.60%. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ONE Gas by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,270,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $434,253,000 after acquiring an additional 41,933 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 22.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,470,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,283,000 after purchasing an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,124,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,152,000 after purchasing an additional 25,145 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 1.4% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth 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. 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.