Marshall Wace LLP Sells 8,895 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,895 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 23,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 4,605 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at about $360,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 5,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Gas news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction of $56,098.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 43,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,055.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $73.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.59. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $56.17 and a one year high of $78.46. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 92.88%.

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.