MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 1,043 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 1.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,043 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $4,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $78.16 on Monday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.01 and a 200 day moving average of $73.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.38.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm 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 revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.