Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 915 Shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 915 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,183,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,946,000 after buying an additional 7,143 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 975,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,949,000 after buying an additional 28,595 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 852,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,474,000 after buying an additional 15,151 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 851,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,442,000 after buying an additional 147,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 519.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 782,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,295,000 after buying an additional 656,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Citigroup increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $75.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.79 and a 52-week high of $76.75.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 7.28% and a net margin of 2.78%. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.98%.

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.