New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 43,799 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 43,799 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.33% of Southwest Gas worth $16,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $473,520,000 after purchasing an additional 38,710 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $234,905,000 after buying an additional 105,549 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,850,000 after purchasing an additional 27,407 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 884.4% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,390,000 after purchasing an additional 818,115 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 111.8% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,639,000 after acquiring an additional 475,000 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 486,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,035. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.24. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.48.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm's revenue was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 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.