Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $79.20 and last traded at $79.11, with a volume of 307267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.68.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter worth approximately $936,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 41.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,506,000 after purchasing an additional 60,856 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth approximately $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 14.7% during the third quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 134,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,926,000 after purchasing an additional 17,227 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.