Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,146,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,603 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.60% of Southwest Gas worth $84,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 67.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.50.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE SWX opened at $69.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.55 and a 52 week high of $80.29.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related 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 value of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate 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.