Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Earns Hold (C) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has restated Southwest Gas's stock rating as "hold (c)," while other analysts have varying ratings including "buy" and "strong buy," indicating a mixed outlook on the stock.
• Southwest Gas reported a Q2 EPS of $0.53, surpassing estimates, but showed a revenue decline of 5.2% year over year, totaling $1.12 billion against an expected $1.17 billion.
• Major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1.5 million shares of Southwest Gas, reducing his position by nearly 20%, worth approximately $116.9 million, raising concerns about insider confidence.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating restated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.3%

Southwest Gas stock opened at $82.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $78.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.62. Southwest Gas has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $82.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.55.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released 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. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,890 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 9,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,067 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,797 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

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.

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