GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 61,908 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 12,738.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,394 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 61,908 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.09% of Southwest Gas worth $4,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.4%

Southwest Gas stock traded down $1.05 on Friday, hitting $71.56. 272,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 366,321. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $71.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.94. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas's quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.74%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,532,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.