Bokf Na Buys 3,706 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Bokf Na grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 2,273.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,706 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SWX. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 168,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,940,000 after buying an additional 56,659 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth $368,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 4,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SWX opened at $75.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.72.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 90.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. 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 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $156,660,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.