Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 98,232 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,946,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of Southwest Gas as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 366,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,913,000 after purchasing an additional 32,521 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $234,905,000 after acquiring an additional 105,549 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 144.3% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 139,144 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,839,000 after purchasing an additional 82,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.54. 213,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,684. The company's 50 day moving average price is $73.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.75. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a PEG 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 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 (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.18%.

About Southwest Gas

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.