Norges Bank Makes New Investment in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 625,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,344,000. Norges Bank owned 1.10% of ONE Gas as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OGS. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ONE Gas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,524,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in ONE Gas by 12.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 valued at $258,283,000 after buying an additional 645,566 shares in the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its position in shares of ONE Gas by 16.6% in the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 79,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,931,000 after acquiring an additional 11,368 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of ONE Gas by 42.0% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OGS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on ONE Gas from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.44.

ONE Gas Price Performance

OGS stock opened at $73.66 on Friday. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.31 and a 1 year high of $78.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.68.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.58 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.70%. Equities research analysts anticipate that ONE Gas, Inc. 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 was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.