Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $73.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

SWX has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $69.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.43. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $57.55 and a one year high of $80.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.06.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued 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 return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.