Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $73.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of SWX stock opened at $71.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.43. Southwest Gas 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 current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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 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 3.47%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.