River Road Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,116,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,998 shares during the period. Southwest Gas comprises 1.1% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 1.55% of Southwest Gas worth $87,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Simplex Trading LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.8%

SWX opened at $83.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $83.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.18.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. 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 research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.