Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 621 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $433,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,976,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,872 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX opened at $72.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.02. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders 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 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.