Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $74.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $69.00.

SWX has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.25.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock opened at $70.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.45. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G 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 (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.74%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter worth $1,880,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 105.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 22,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 18.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,920,000 after acquiring an additional 6,210 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 217.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,098,000 after acquiring an additional 105,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 191.1% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 6,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Company 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.