Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 (NYSE:SWX)

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Southwest Gas has a payout ratio of 66.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.3%.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.4 %

SWX stock opened at $71.87 on Wednesday. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $56.17 and a twelve month high of $78.46. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.86 and a 200 day moving average of $71.57.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Southwest Gas from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.