Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $19,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,370,000 after purchasing an additional 84,987 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 6.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,053,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,117,000 after acquiring an additional 68,254 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,506,000 after acquiring an additional 60,856 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 7,276.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 51,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,765,000 after acquiring an additional 50,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.6% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 889,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,063 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $71.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $73.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.55. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.03 and a 52 week high of $78.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

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.