MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Purchases 1,345 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,345 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:SWX opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.52. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $80.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SWX. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

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.