Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Purchases 8,372 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 264.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,372 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SWX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.1%

SWX stock opened at $78.39 on Monday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1-year low of $64.69 and a 1-year high of $80.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.54%.

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.

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