Legal & General Group Plc Sells 6,981 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,981 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.18% of Southwest Gas worth $9,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,979 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, reaching $73.23. 39,262 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 405,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick 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 market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.46 and its 200-day moving average is $73.76.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is 90.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.