Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. cut its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 53.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,900 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $25,000. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 194.6% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SWX. Mizuho began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of 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 given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $81.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.57. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas Corporation has a twelve month low of $64.69 and a twelve month high of $82.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.