Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Acquired by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,450,000 after purchasing an additional 22,013 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,197,000 after purchasing an additional 275,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,922 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,807,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,054,000 after acquiring an additional 12,913 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SWX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:SWX opened at $73.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $80.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.79.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. On average, analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Southwest Gas’s dividend 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.