Jane Street Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 64,467 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.11% of Southwest Gas worth $5,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third 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 during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $373,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 107.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 83,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,131 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 27,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 4,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter worth $1,809,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.8 %

SWX stock opened at $72.85 on Monday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $57.55 and a one year high of $80.29. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.38 and its 200 day moving average is $73.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS 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. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.