Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Grows Stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 10.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SWX. 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 research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $67.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.19 and a 200 day moving average of $73.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

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