Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys New Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Southwest Gas by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value 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 approximately $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX traded up $1.74 on Monday, reaching $70.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 324,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,136. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $71.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.31 and a 12-month high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.