Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) to Issue $0.62 Quarterly Dividend

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

Southwest Gas has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Southwest Gas has a payout ratio of 67.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.4%.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $73.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $56.17 and a one year high of $78.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.38.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Southwest Gas from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.