Covestor Ltd Sells 257 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Covestor Ltd lessened its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 26.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $54,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SWX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 154.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 428 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 96.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $49,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SWX shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $76.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.60. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $79.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction of $56,098.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.