Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Raises Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $80.47 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $82.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.40 and its 200 day moving average is $76.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

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.