Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 56.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 16.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 520.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of SWX opened at $74.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $76.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.03.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 7.28%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 116.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SWX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

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.