Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Major Shareholder Sells $106,668,600.00 in Stock

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $77.51 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.54 and a 200-day moving average of $73.70. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $79.20.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,450,000 after purchasing an additional 22,013 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,197,000 after buying an additional 275,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after acquiring an additional 19,922 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,223,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,109,000 after acquiring an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 6.9% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company 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.