Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $73.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

SWX has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.7 %

SWX opened at $69.86 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.06. Southwest Gas has a 12 month low of $57.55 and a 12 month high of $80.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.43. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 67.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.