Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Stock Position Reduced by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lessened its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 803 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,826,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,147,000 after buying an additional 16,894 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 72.2% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,550,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,290,000 after buying an additional 650,000 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,021,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,376,000 after buying an additional 111,341 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,686,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 382,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,496,000 after buying an additional 16,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SWX. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.3%

SWX opened at $82.05 on Monday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $82.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.72.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.54%.

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.