Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 64,412 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 77.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,412 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.21% of Southwest Gas worth $10,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SWX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,011,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 111.8% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,639,000 after acquiring an additional 475,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,748,000 after acquiring an additional 229,739 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 328.1% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,821,000 after acquiring an additional 171,478 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,905,000 after acquiring an additional 105,549 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 7.7%

Shares of SWX opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.69. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s revenue was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. 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.