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

ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.44.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ONE Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONE Gas by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,270,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $434,253,000 after acquiring an additional 41,933 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ONE Gas by 22.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,470,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,283,000 after purchasing an additional 645,566 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $147,152,000 after purchasing an additional 25,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 0.9% in 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 during the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of OGS opened at $73.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.29 and its 200-day moving average is $72.42. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. ONE Gas has a fifty-two week low of $58.31 and a fifty-two week high of $78.89.

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

ONE Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from ONE Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. ONE Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.