Inspire Investing LLC Trims Stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,099 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SWX. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,450,000 after acquiring an additional 22,013 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in Southwest Gas by 18.5% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,197,000 after purchasing an additional 275,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,922 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,123,000 after buying an additional 35,106 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 654,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,308,000 after buying an additional 6,059 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $73.81 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.13. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.43. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $57.55 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.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.12 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 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.