First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Invests $779,000 in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.3%

SWX stock opened at $82.05 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.62. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $82.08.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.33.

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.