Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Takes $381,000 Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 72.2% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,550,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,290,000 after acquiring an additional 650,000 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the first quarter valued at $31,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 208.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 227,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,299,000 after acquiring an additional 153,637 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 12.2% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,021,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,376,000 after acquiring an additional 111,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 217.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,098,000 after acquiring an additional 105,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:SWX opened at $79.41 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $80.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 92.54%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.33.

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.