State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Reduces Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,998 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 206.2% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.0 %

Southwest Gas stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.03. The stock had a trading volume of 296,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 349,362. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.18%.

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.