Cetera Investment Advisers Has $788,000 Position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 40.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,976 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,030,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,850,000 after purchasing an additional 27,407 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 884.4% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,390,000 after purchasing an additional 818,115 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 111.8% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 900,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,639,000 after purchasing an additional 475,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 818,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,842,000 after purchasing an additional 97,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 471,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,351,000 after purchasing an additional 21,919 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 2.2%

SWX traded down $1.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.69. The company had a trading volume of 564,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 370,990. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.49. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $80.54. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $76.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.25.

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.