Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 68,130 Shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 68,130 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of ONE Gas worth $12,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in ONE Gas by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 792,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,597,000 after buying an additional 20,065 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of ONE Gas by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in ONE Gas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in ONE Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in ONE Gas by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

ONE Gas Price Performance

OGS opened at $69.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.70. ONE Gas, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.74 and a 52 week high of $78.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.50.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $340.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that ONE Gas, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

ONE Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. ONE Gas’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on OGS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on ONE Gas from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ONE Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of ONE Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ONE Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.69.

ONE Gas 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.