Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,520,000 after buying an additional 38,710 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $234,905,000 after purchasing an additional 105,549 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,850,000 after acquiring an additional 27,407 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 884.4% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,390,000 after buying an additional 818,115 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 111.8% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,639,000 after purchasing an additional 475,000 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:SWX opened at $77.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $80.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.74 and its 200-day moving average is $73.02. 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 (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 4.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SWX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 research report on Friday, May 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.25.

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.