Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 46.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 281,833 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $23,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SWX shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SWX opened at $72.87 on Friday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.