Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 7,981 Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 120,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,497,000 after purchasing an additional 27,206 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,445,000 after purchasing an additional 64,412 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $3,117,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 7,532,604 shares in the company, valued at $561,932,258.40. This trade represents a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX opened at $71.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $80.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.28 and a 200 day moving average of $73.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 79.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SWX. StockNews.com cut Southwest Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus 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.