Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (SWX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 on March 3rd

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th.

Southwest Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 3.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Southwest Gas has a payout ratio of 68.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.78 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.6%.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $77.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.68. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $57.55 and a one year high of $79.20. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Activity

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

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.