Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 56,521 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 50.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 56,521 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.08% of Southwest Gas worth $4,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 3.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 11,644 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 8.2% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 9,632,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction of $56,098.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,055.32. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE SWX traded down $2.81 on Wednesday, reaching $76.30. The company had a trading volume of 544,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,863. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $79.20. The stock has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.38. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $74.15 and its 200-day moving average is $73.64.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. Southwest Gas's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Southwest Gas Company 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.