Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) is Sasco Capital Inc. CT’s 3rd Largest Position

Sasco Capital Inc. CT reduced its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 380,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 62,950 shares during the quarter. Southwest Gas makes up about 4.2% of Sasco Capital Inc. CT’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sasco Capital Inc. CT’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $28,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the first quarter worth $936,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,506,000 after purchasing an additional 60,856 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 14.7% in the third quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 134,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,926,000 after buying an additional 17,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $77.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $79.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.98 and a 200 day moving average of $73.61.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.