Invesco Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 366,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,521 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.51% of Southwest Gas worth $25,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 192 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $72.96. The stock had a trading volume of 50,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,639. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $73.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.76. 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 twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 90.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.