Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,306 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $974,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,450,000 after purchasing an additional 22,013 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,197,000 after buying an additional 275,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,027,000 after buying an additional 19,922 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,123,000 after acquiring an additional 35,106 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 654,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,308,000 after acquiring an additional 6,059 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $73.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.65. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.48 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.