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

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.6 %

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 company has a market cap 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.68.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SWX. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,197,000 after buying an additional 275,992 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 3rd quarter worth $6,823,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,370,000 after acquiring an additional 84,987 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 192.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,053,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,117,000 after acquiring an additional 68,254 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.