Brokerages Set ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Price Target at $72.44

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.44.

Several equities analysts have commented on OGS shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on ONE Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of ONE Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OGS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,270,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $434,253,000 after buying an additional 41,933 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 645,566 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ONE Gas by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,124,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,152,000 after acquiring an additional 25,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,354,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,836,000 after purchasing an additional 18,477 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of ONE Gas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,058,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,302,000 after purchasing an additional 9,302 shares in the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OGS opened at $73.11 on Friday. ONE Gas has a one year low of $58.31 and a one year high of $78.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.42.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. The company had revenue of $630.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.58 million. Research analysts predict that ONE Gas will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.67 dividend. 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 3.67%. This is an increase from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.