ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $79.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.69.

ONE Gas Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE OGS opened at $72.68 on Friday. ONE Gas has a 52-week low of $57.74 and a 52-week high of $78.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.82. 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 issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $287.48 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 10.52%. ONE Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ONE Gas will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OGS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 128.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 148,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,507,000 after purchasing an additional 83,636 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 7.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 897,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,308,000 after buying an additional 61,192 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 240.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 128,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,179,000 after buying an additional 90,500 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 23.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 20,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ONE Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.