Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Holdings Increased by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 234.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,418 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $3,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 8.8% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 96.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 19.2% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 87,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,174,000 after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $78.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.08 and a 200-day moving average of $73.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.55 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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.

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.