Phocas Financial Corp. Buys 41,987 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Phocas Financial Corp. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 104.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,987 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $6,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SWX. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Southwest Gas by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 763,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,783,000 after acquiring an additional 14,875 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 11.1% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 18,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Southwest Gas by 18.2% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.7% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 73,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,492,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX opened at $78.97 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.55. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $82.51.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $3.65. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 92.54%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Southwest Gas 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.