Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) by 52.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,456 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in ONE Gas were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OGS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in ONE Gas by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,402,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $437,140,000 after purchasing an additional 27,831 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONE Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ONE Gas by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 21,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in ONE Gas by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in ONE Gas by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on OGS. StockNews.com cut shares of ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group initiated coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $61.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on ONE Gas from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on ONE Gas from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.69.

ONE Gas Trading Up 1.0 %

ONE Gas stock traded up $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.39. 118,340 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,546. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.66. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $82.06.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 10.86%. The company had revenue of $758.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

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.