Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Position in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 410.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $753,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the fourth 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SWX shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity

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 value of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $72.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. 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 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.18%.

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.

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