Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 1,338 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 11.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,338 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SWX. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 789.7% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 24,133 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.2%

SWX stock opened at $79.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.26. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $82.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

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.