ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $76.34 and last traded at $76.21, with a volume of 26606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OGS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.10.

ONE Gas Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.67. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.48 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Institutional Trading of ONE Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,470,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,283,000 after buying an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 52.9% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,058,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,317,000 after buying an additional 366,363 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 320.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 402,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,980,000 after acquiring an additional 306,974 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of ONE Gas by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,598,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,590,000 after acquiring an additional 272,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of ONE Gas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $16,939,000. 88.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.