Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 26,300 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 110,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,300 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.15% of Southwest Gas worth $7,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 67.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,632,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SWX stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.29. 455,528 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 288,007. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.55 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company's 50-day moving average price is $73.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.05.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas's quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.12 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, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.40.

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.