Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 818,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,709 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.14% of Southwest Gas worth $57,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 110,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,836,000 after purchasing an additional 26,300 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $1,000,000. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 11,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 192.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 69,212 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $73.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.67. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.18%.

Southwest Gas Company 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.