GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 61,908 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 12,738.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,908 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Southwest Gas worth $4,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,520,000 after purchasing an additional 38,710 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,905,000 after purchasing an additional 105,549 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,850,000 after acquiring an additional 27,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,054,000 after acquiring an additional 12,913 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock opened at $72.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.