Xponance Inc. Grows Stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $73.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.03. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

About Southwest Gas

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.