ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. 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 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of OGS stock opened at $72.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. ONE Gas has a 1-year low of $58.31 and a 1-year high of $78.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.94.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.58 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ONE Gas will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 61,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 4.4% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

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.