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

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

OGS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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 cut their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.10.

ONE Gas Stock Up 1.6 %

ONE Gas stock opened at $75.40 on Wednesday. ONE Gas has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $76.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.67.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $287.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that ONE Gas will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OGS. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in ONE Gas by 4.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in ONE Gas by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in ONE Gas by 0.9% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.