Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,573 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.31% of Southwest Gas worth $17,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SWX. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 223.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $82.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $86.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The company had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, 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 objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Southwest Gas Profile

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is a publicly traded natural gas utility that provides regulated gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. The company’s core activities include the transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas through an extensive network of pipelines, service lines and metering facilities. Southwest Gas also offers related services such as system maintenance, pipeline safety inspections, emergency response and line extensions to support customer growth and ensure reliable gas delivery.

Founded in 1931 in southern Nevada, Southwest Gas has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the nation’s larger natural gas utilities by customer count.