Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 5,740 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 112.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,308,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth $115,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 154.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 8.8% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of SWX stock opened at $78.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.