Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Bought by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,206 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Southwest Gas worth $8,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.25.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $70.84 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. 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 one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 79.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.