Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Major Shareholder Sells $156,660,000.00 in Stock

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 2.9 %

Southwest Gas stock traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 671,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,375. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% during the 4th 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 during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.