Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC has acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation by purchasing 5,706 shares valued at approximately $422,000 in the second quarter.
• Southwest Gas has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 3.2% and will be paid on December 1st.
• Recent analyst ratings have shown positive sentiment, with Bank of America upgrading Southwest Gas from "neutral" to "buy" and increasing the target price from $76.00 to $84.00.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SWX. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 880 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $78.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.93. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.69 and a 52 week high of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.33.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

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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