State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $79.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $80.54.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

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.