Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 23.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,223,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,197,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,185,000 after acquiring an additional 27,500 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,059,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,110,000 after acquiring an additional 207,798 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 6.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,053,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,117,000 after purchasing an additional 68,254 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 3.6% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 889,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,055.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $74.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.32 and a 200 day moving average of $73.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.38. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.17 and a 52 week high of $78.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 92.88%.

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.