Atria Investments Inc Has $434,000 Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 897 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of 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 shares of Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,686,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 227,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,299,000 after purchasing an additional 153,637 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,021,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,376,000 after purchasing an additional 111,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 217.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,098,000 after buying an additional 105,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $79.30 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.05 and its 200-day moving average is $76.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $82.51.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid 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 38.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SWX. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas 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.