Bank of Montreal Can Sells 3,438 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,364 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,438 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was 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. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Southwest Gas stock traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.07. The company had a trading volume of 300,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,648. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.46 and a 200 day moving average of $73.76. 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 $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.