Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,933 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after buying an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 26.9% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $3,177,055.32. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $77.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $79.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.68.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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 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.