ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on OGS. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.10.

ONE Gas Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ONE Gas stock opened at $75.09 on Wednesday. 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 has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $76.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.63.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that ONE Gas will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OGS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in ONE Gas in the first quarter worth $575,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 52.1% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 27,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 9,456 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 55.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 287,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,520,000 after buying an additional 102,092 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 283.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 193,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,469,000 after buying an additional 142,865 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of ONE Gas during the first quarter valued at $708,000. 88.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.