American Century Companies Inc. Sells 293,896 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation by 89.3%, selling 293,896 shares and holding 35,241 shares valued at approximately $2.53 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have taken new positions or increased their stakes, with Zimmer Partners LP expanding its holdings by 884.4% and now owning 910,615 shares worth $64.39 million.
• Southwest Gas reported a quarterly earnings of $0.53 EPS, surpassing expectations, while revenue declined 5.2% year-over-year, totaling $1.12 billion.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 89.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 293,896 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 884.4% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,390,000 after acquiring an additional 818,115 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 818,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,842,000 after acquiring an additional 97,709 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 471,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,351,000 after acquiring an additional 21,919 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter valued at about $31,686,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 382,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,496,000 after acquiring an additional 16,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.53. The stock had a trading volume of 313,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,462. 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 cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $80.54. The business's 50 day moving average price is $77.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.42.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.75.

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.