Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Stock Position Increased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,450,000 after buying an additional 22,013 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,197,000 after acquiring an additional 275,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,922 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,807,000 after purchasing an additional 4,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,054,000 after purchasing an additional 12,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 2.9 %

Southwest Gas stock opened at $73.00 on Wednesday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 90.18%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.