Centiva Capital LP Acquires Shares of 4,250 Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SWX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth $51,011,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 111.8% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,639,000 after purchasing an additional 475,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 505,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,748,000 after purchasing an additional 229,739 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 328.1% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,821,000 after purchasing an additional 171,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,905,000 after acquiring an additional 105,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 7.7%

SWX opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.69. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $80.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 90.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.