Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 99.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,235 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 649,695 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Southwest Gas by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages 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 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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 note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:SWX traded up $1.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.27. The stock had a trading volume of 31,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,948. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.31 and a 12-month high of $80.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.78.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 90.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.