Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,100 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Southwest Gas worth $7,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Simplex Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 194.6% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $83.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.66. The company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.65.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 11.59%.The business had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is a publicly traded natural gas utility that provides regulated gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. The company’s core activities include the transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas through an extensive network of pipelines, service lines and metering facilities. Southwest Gas also offers related services such as system maintenance, pipeline safety inspections, emergency response and line extensions to support customer growth and ensure reliable gas delivery.

Founded in 1931 in southern Nevada, Southwest Gas has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the nation’s larger natural gas utilities by customer count.