Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Stock Holdings Lowered by Man Group plc

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,063 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.11% of Southwest Gas worth $5,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,000,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 192.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,755,000 after acquiring an additional 69,212 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 216,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,340,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.52. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $80.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 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.