Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 272,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,758 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.38% of Southwest Gas worth $17,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 56.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 16.8% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 520.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of SWX stock opened at $75.00 on Monday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.79 and a fifty-two week high of $76.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 2.78%. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.98%.

Southwest Gas 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.