Fmr LLC Cuts Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Fmr LLC trimmed its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,216,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,430,203 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned approximately 4.48% of Southwest Gas worth $237,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 3rd 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 period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $78.16 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

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

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.