BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS - Free Report) by 51.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,249 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in ONE Gas were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OGS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ONE Gas in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,344,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 1,421.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 489,028 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,865,000 after purchasing an additional 456,891 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 864,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $59,849,000 after purchasing an additional 152,028 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in ONE Gas in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,599,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in ONE Gas by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 54,237 shares in the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OGS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of ONE Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of ONE Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ONE Gas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $74.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ONE Gas has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.81.

ONE Gas Trading Up 1.3%

OGS traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $74.41. 755,512 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,196. The company's 50 day moving average is $75.72 and its 200-day moving average is $73.49. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.86. ONE Gas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.31 and a twelve 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $935.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $882.31 million. ONE Gas had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 7.70%. The company's revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. Equities analysts predict that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. ONE Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.73%.

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.