Walleye Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 22,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,645,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 234.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 37,418 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,123,000 after purchasing an additional 35,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 654,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,308,000 after buying an additional 6,059 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SWX opened at $77.10 on Thursday. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.55 and a 12-month high of $80.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.76.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. The trade was a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas 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.