Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 2,120 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,120 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SWX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at $51,011,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 475,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 229,739 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 171,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 105,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $69.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.57. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

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.