Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 748,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 157,764 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.04% of Southwest Gas worth $53,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter worth $952,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $77.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SWX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

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.