Farther Finance Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation by 1,015.2% during the second quarter, owning a total of 5,152 shares valued at $383,000.
• Southwest Gas recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, with a payout ratio of 92.54%, to be distributed on December 1st.
• Analysts have issued mostly favorable ratings for Southwest Gas, with an average price target of $82.33 and upgrades from "hold" to "buy" by several financial institutions.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 1,015.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SWX. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 869 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $78.20 on Monday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $78.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.83.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 92.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SWX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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