Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,740 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the third 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 increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SWX opened at $78.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.75. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $57.55 and a one year high of $80.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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.

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.