Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 (NYSE:SWX)

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th.

Southwest Gas has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. Southwest Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 68.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.6%.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $77.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.38. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $79.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction of $56,098.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,055.32. The trade was a 1.74 % 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, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% 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.