Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,863 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.19% of Southwest Gas worth $9,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SWX shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of 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, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.3 %

SWX stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $72.74. The company had a trading volume of 230,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,199. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.07 and a 200 day moving average of $73.75. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 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, June 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.18%.

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.