Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases 5,598 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 46,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,598 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $3,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 5,132 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 7.7% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 12.5% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 14,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,544,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,902,000 after purchasing an additional 54,318 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SWX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $79.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $82.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.63%.

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.