Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. trimmed its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,250 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 206.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the firm'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 value of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SWX shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $73.51. 247,578 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 352,642. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

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.