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

StockNews.com cut shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on OGS. 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. Bank of America started coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.31.

ONE Gas Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of OGS stock opened at $72.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. ONE Gas has a 12-month low of $58.31 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.94.

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

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in ONE Gas during the third quarter worth about $3,135,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in ONE Gas by 113.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 22,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 12,060 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in ONE Gas by 234.1% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 60,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,539,000 after acquiring an additional 42,724 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in ONE Gas by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in ONE Gas by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 758,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,438,000 after purchasing an additional 18,889 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is currently 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.