Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $749,000 Stock Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 11.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,338 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 194.6% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was 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. This represents a 19.91% 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. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $79.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.26. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $82.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.63%.

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.