Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Gas by 41.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,506,000 after purchasing an additional 60,856 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 14.7% in the third quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 134,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,926,000 after acquiring an additional 17,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth $503,000. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $78.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.55 and a 1-year high of $80.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.69.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

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.