Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 (NYSE:SWX)

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th.

Southwest Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 1.7% per year over the last three years. Southwest Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 60.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.2%.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 7.7%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $64.31 and a 1 year high of $80.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.68 and a 200 day moving average of $73.69.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

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.