Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SWX. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 9.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 985,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,370,000 after buying an additional 84,987 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,053,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,117,000 after acquiring an additional 68,254 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 41.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,506,000 after acquiring an additional 60,856 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 7,276.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 51,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after acquiring an additional 50,350 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.6% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 889,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,063 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.7 %

Southwest Gas stock opened at $73.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.84 and a twelve month high of $78.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.55.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The business’s revenue was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by 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.