Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 144.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 139,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,192 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $9,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter worth $51,011,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,748,000 after purchasing an additional 229,739 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 135,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,580,000 after purchasing an additional 23,180 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,520,000 after buying an additional 38,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $73.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.10.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SWX shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

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.