Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 192.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,212 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $7,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position 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 buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 4.8% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.4% in the 2nd 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. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $67.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. 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 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.19 and a 200 day moving average of $73.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.