Yousif Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 216,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,340,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 279,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,771,000 after acquiring an additional 12,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 906,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,078,000 after acquiring an additional 43,030 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SWX stock opened at $72.37 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.82. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

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.