Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 10,500 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 60.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,809 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,500 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $130,197,000 after purchasing an additional 275,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,027,000 after purchasing an additional 19,922 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,123,000 after purchasing an additional 35,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 906,207 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,078,000 after buying an additional 43,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

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Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:SWX traded up $0.10 on Monday, hitting $72.74. 582,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 338,011. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.79. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 90.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.