Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 105,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,092 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $6,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 56.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 16.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 520.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $75.13 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.76. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.79 and a 12 month high of $76.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.36.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.16. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.