ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Seven of 13 brokerages rate ONE Gas a “buy” and six rate it “hold”; the average 12-month price target is $87.12.
• Quarterly earnings beat estimates: ONE Gas reported EPS of $0.53 versus consensus of $0.48, while revenue of $391.31 million came in below estimates but rose 3.2% year over year.
• The company announced a $0.68 quarterly dividend, equivalent to $2.72 annually and a 3.3% yield at the article’s stated share price.

Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $87.12.

OGS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of ONE Gas from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on ONE Gas from $89.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded ONE Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ONE Gas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, November 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 18.9% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 39,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 19,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 739 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 1,563.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 865,411 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,197,000 after acquiring an additional 813,371 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company's stock.

ONE Gas Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE OGS opened at $82.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. ONE Gas has a 52 week low of $70.37 and a 52 week high of $90.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.92.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $391.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.23 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The company's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ONE Gas will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. ONE Gas's dividend payout ratio is 58.00%.

About ONE Gas

ONE Gas, Inc. is a regulated natural gas distribution company that delivers natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Its operations serve communities in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. The company operates through three utility divisions: Oklahoma Natural Gas, Kansas Gas Service and Texas Gas Service. Its services include distributing natural gas through local pipeline systems and maintaining the infrastructure used to provide that service. ONE Gas became an independent, publicly traded company in 2014 after separating from ONEOK, Inc. Its business is focused on natural gas distribution rather than exploration or production.

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