Waldron Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 546 Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 75,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,743,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 43,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $74.30 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.55. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.17 and a 1 year high of $78.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 98.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.