Xponance Inc. Grows Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 8.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 13.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock opened at $75.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.36. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.79 and a twelve month high of $76.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 2.78%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

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.