Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Grows Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 599.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,464 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SWX. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 245.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the third quarter worth about $6,823,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $166,450,000 after acquiring an additional 22,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:SWX traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.65. The company had a trading volume of 882,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,929. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.55 and a 1-year high of $80.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is $75.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.54. 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 (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.