Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Holdings Boosted by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 84,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $5,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,011,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,748,000 after acquiring an additional 229,739 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,905,000 after purchasing an additional 105,549 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter valued at $6,946,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.3% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 139,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 82,192 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.6 %

SWX stock opened at $72.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.76.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 90.18%.

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.