Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 1,954 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SWX. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. This represents a 21.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $72.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.31 and a 12-month high of $80.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.06.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 90.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.