ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $65.09, but opened at $62.45. ONE Gas shares last traded at $63.53, with a volume of 23,941 shares changing hands.

The utilities provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.78 by ($0.03). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $758.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. ONE Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 26.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OGS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group started coverage on ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $61.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ONE Gas from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of ONE Gas from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of ONE Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 66.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in ONE Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in ONE Gas by 290.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 112.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 147.8% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Trading Down 1.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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.