O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. Increases Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation by 23.6% during Q2, bringing their total shares to 18,306, worth approximately $1.36 million.
• Analysts have upgraded Southwest Gas's rating from "hold" to "buy", and Jefferies Financial Group raised the price target from $82.00 to $88.00, indicating positive sentiment around the stock.
• Major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1.5 million shares at an average price of $77.91, reducing his ownership stake by 19.91%, while the company has also announced a dividend of $0.62 per share, to be paid on December 1st.

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,306 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,495 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,015.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter worth about $1,163,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 99.5% in the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter worth about $332,000. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

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 transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $78.41 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1-year low of $64.69 and a 1-year high of $80.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 92.54%.

Southwest Gas 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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