Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $71.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. Southwest Gas has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $71.79 and its 200 day moving average is $72.87.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 79.74%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.