O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. Has $833,000 Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 45.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the 3rd 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. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.1 %

SWX opened at $72.29 on Friday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.55 and a twelve month high of $80.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.57 and a 200-day moving average of $73.05. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.