27,400 Shares in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 27,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,937,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 599.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 234.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,939,000 after buying an additional 37,418 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 110,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,836,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter worth $1,000,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of SWX traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.90. 629,619 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,777. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.11. 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 company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.18%.

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.