Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Position Increased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 654,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,059 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $48,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 154.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 96.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $77.51 on Monday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $79.20. 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 cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.66.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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.

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.