Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.80.

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $76.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. Southwest Gas has a 12 month low of $60.88 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.51.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,696,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $473,520,000 after buying an additional 38,710 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,905,000 after buying an additional 105,549 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,256,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,450,000 after buying an additional 22,013 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 18.5% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,765,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,197,000 after buying an additional 275,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,027,000 after buying an additional 19,922 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.