Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 360 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 173.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 4,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 92.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 8.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 6.5% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 54,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $78.39 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.29. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $80.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 92.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.