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 report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

OGS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.10.

ONE Gas Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE OGS opened at $75.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.67. ONE Gas has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $76.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. ONE Gas’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that ONE Gas will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 6.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONE Gas by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,470,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,873,000 after purchasing an additional 10,189 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ONE Gas by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,836,000 after buying an additional 18,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in ONE Gas by 52.9% during the 1st 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

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.