Swiss National Bank Increases Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $7,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,450,000 after purchasing an additional 22,013 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,197,000 after buying an additional 275,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after buying an additional 19,922 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,807,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,054,000 after acquiring an additional 12,913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.1 %

SWX opened at $75.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.93. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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.