Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.62

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Southwest Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 66.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.3%.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $71.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $72.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.57. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $56.17 and a 1 year high of $78.46. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.17). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Southwest Gas from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.