Ethic Inc. Acquires 3,788 Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in ONE Gas were worth $1,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of ONE Gas by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 6,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the company's stock.

ONE Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OGS traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.14. 563,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 445,735. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $75.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.35. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.31 and a 12 month high of $82.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.64.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $935.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $882.31 million. ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.70% and a net margin of 10.70%. The business's revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. ONE Gas's dividend payout ratio is 64.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ONE Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised ONE Gas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised ONE Gas to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $74.00 target price on ONE Gas and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ONE Gas presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.44.

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.