Arizona State Retirement System Sells 330 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,646,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $520,388,000 after buying an additional 690,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 519.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 782,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,295,000 after buying an additional 656,473 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter worth $39,176,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Southwest Gas by 146.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 882,058 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,582,000 after buying an additional 524,625 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,117,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $631,828,000 after buying an additional 436,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on SWX shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 27th.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $72.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.79 and a 52 week high of $76.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.51 and its 200 day moving average is $63.33.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 2.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.98%.

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.