Redwood Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Redwood Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,175 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,520,000 after buying an additional 38,710 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,905,000 after acquiring an additional 105,549 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,850,000 after acquiring an additional 27,407 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,054,000 after acquiring an additional 12,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the 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 owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX opened at $67.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.61. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.74%.

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.