Icon Advisers Inc. Co. Trims Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Icon Advisers Inc. Co. cut its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,015.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $779,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 8.0% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 763,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,783,000 after acquiring an additional 14,875 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SWX. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $83.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $79.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.11. Southwest Gas Corporation has a twelve month low of $64.69 and a twelve month high of $83.11.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 38.63%.

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.