Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 620 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 4th, 2023

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX – Get Rating) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of Southwest Gas worth $5,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 22,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $973,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 87.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $55.15 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.84 and its 200 day moving average is $64.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.15, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.13 and a 12 month high of $95.62.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Southwest Gas had a negative net margin of 4.10% and a positive return on equity of 5.86%. Research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -86.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn bought 238,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.89 per share, for a total transaction of $14,300,833.65. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 9,483,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $567,951,842.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 238,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.89 per share, with a total value of $14,300,833.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,483,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $567,951,842.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 55,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.00 per share, for a total transaction of $3,364,394.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,520,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $641,756,600. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 3,236,622 shares of company stock worth $194,582,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Southwest Gas from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.60.

About Southwest Gas

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Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc engages in the energy business. It operates through the following business segments: Natural Gas Operations and Utility Infrastructure Services. The Natural Gas Operations segment focuses on purchasing, distribution, and transportation of natural gas in Arizona, California, and Nevada.