Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 77,808 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.42% of Southwest Gas worth $21,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 192.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,755,000 after buying an additional 69,212 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 127,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $0.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,540. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $71.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 79.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five 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, Southwest Gas has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.00.

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.