Inspire Investing LLC Buys 4,479 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in 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 position in Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.33.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $78.46 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.10. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $80.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.54%.

Southwest Gas Company 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.