ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Trading 2.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) rose 2.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $75.29 and last traded at $75.35. Approximately 86,624 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 375,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on OGS shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on ONE Gas from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.44.

ONE Gas Trading Up 2.9 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $630.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.58 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. On average, research analysts expect that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 61,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in ONE Gas by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in ONE Gas by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.