D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Makes New $3.40 Million Investment in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 48,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,396,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Southwest Gas at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 112,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $301,000. BOKF NA grew its position in Southwest Gas by 2,273.6% in the fourth quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,869 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 3,706 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Southwest Gas by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 168,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,940,000 after acquiring an additional 56,659 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.25.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX traded up $1.74 on Friday, reaching $70.84. The company had a trading volume of 324,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,136. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. 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 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

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.