New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $4.11 Million Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Southwest Gas worth $4,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,520,000 after purchasing an additional 38,710 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,905,000 after purchasing an additional 105,549 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,807,000 after purchasing an additional 4,235 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,850,000 after purchasing an additional 27,407 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,054,000 after purchasing an additional 12,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SWX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.2%

SWX stock opened at $73.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.84.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.74%.

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.