15,998 Shares in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Acquired by TD Asset Management Inc

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc acquired 15,998 shares of Southwest Gas Corporation, valued at approximately $1.19 million, during the 2nd quarter.
• The company reported $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue decreased by 5.2% year-over-year to $1.12 billion.
• Southwest Gas announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.1%, with the payment set for December 1st.

TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 194.6% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX opened at $80.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.42. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $80.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SWX. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Southwest Gas 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.

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