Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a growth of 27.5% from the April 30th total of 1,380,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 458,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.3%

Southwest Gas stock opened at $71.64 on Tuesday. 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 $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.24.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

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.