Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Stake Cut by Burney Co.

Burney Co. cut its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 77.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,045 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $66,000. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $72.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.06. The firm has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.43. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.55 and a 52-week high of $80.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.