StockNews.com Upgrades ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) to “Hold”

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of ONE Gas from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $75.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America started coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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 an average price target of $72.69.

ONE Gas Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ONE Gas stock opened at $68.37 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 0.70. 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 has a 1 year low of $57.74 and a 1 year high of $78.89.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $340.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.48 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ONE Gas will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OGS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 worth $258,283,000 after buying an additional 645,566 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in ONE Gas by 320.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 402,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,980,000 after acquiring an additional 306,974 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in ONE Gas by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,598,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,590,000 after acquiring an additional 272,923 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 9,036.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 202,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,061,000 after purchasing an additional 200,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of ONE Gas during the second quarter worth about $12,594,000. 88.71% of the stock is currently 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.