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

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

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on OGS. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $79.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.69.

ONE Gas Price Performance

OGS opened at $68.21 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.71. ONE Gas has a one year low of $57.74 and a one year high of $78.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The business had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. ONE Gas’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ONE Gas will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 266.0% in the third quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ONE Gas by 150.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in ONE Gas in the third quarter valued at $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ONE Gas by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in ONE Gas by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.