JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 275,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,715 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.38% of Southwest Gas worth $20,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 37.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX stock traded down $1.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.41. 288,401 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 301,233. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.55 and a 1-year high of $80.29. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.