Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,369 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.3% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 139,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 82,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,011,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,748,000 after purchasing an additional 229,739 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $73.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.18%.

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.