Atria Investments Inc Grows Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX opened at $76.26 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.86. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.31 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. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 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.