Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Purchased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the 4th 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 period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on SWX shares. StockNews.com lowered Southwest Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 87,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,888. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.31 and a 1-year high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th 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 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 79.74%.

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.