24,523 Shares in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Bought by Holocene Advisors LP

Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,809,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 154.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 96.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 574 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.63. The company had a trading volume of 317,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,943. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.55 and a 1-year high of $80.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.75. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.41.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

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.