Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $7.84 Million Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,300 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $7,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 599.0% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 8,464 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 234.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 37,418 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth about $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,123,000 after acquiring an additional 35,106 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SWX. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX opened at $71.49 on Friday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.55 and a 52-week high of $80.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.43. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.03.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business’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 $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.