Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,223,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,053,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,117,000 after purchasing an additional 68,254 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 9.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,370,000 after purchasing an additional 84,987 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 3.6% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 889,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 648,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,668,000 after purchasing an additional 17,069 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $72.05 on Friday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.03 and a fifty-two week high of $78.46. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.07 and a 200-day moving average of $73.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 98.41%.

Southwest Gas 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.