JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,715 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $20,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SWX opened at $70.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.43. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.14.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Southwest Gas Company 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.