Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Bought by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 654,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,059 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.91% of Southwest Gas worth $48,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter worth $202,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 4.4% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 79,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,045,000 after buying an additional 3,318 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,308,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter valued at about $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.1 %

SWX opened at $77.51 on Monday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $79.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

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.