Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Shares Bought by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 28.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Simplex Trading LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 194.6% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of SWX opened at $83.05 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12-month low of $64.69 and a 12-month high of $83.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 38.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.