Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 906,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,030 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.26% of Southwest Gas worth $64,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 9.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,364 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,133,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,858 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,349,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $72.52. The company had a trading volume of 170,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,770. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 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.