Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 569 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 234.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 37,418 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,506,000 after buying an additional 60,856 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,123,000 after acquiring an additional 35,106 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $67.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.19 and its 200 day moving average is $73.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.55 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29.

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, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% 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.