Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Reduces Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 26.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,050 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 24.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 7,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Southwest Gas by 41.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas 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 value of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $83.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $83.11.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 38.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SWX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

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.