Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas has a fifty-two week low of $64.31 and a fifty-two week high of $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.69.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. StockNews.com lowered Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.