Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 6,178 Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Eisler Capital Management Ltd. has acquired a new position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX), purchasing 6,178 shares valued at approximately $443,000.
• Several hedge funds have notably increased their stakes in Southwest Gas, with Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosting its position by 1,055.0% during the first quarter.
• Southwest Gas reported $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, although its revenue was down 5.2% year-over-year at $1.12 billion.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 27,407 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 818,115 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 97,709 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 21,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter worth about $31,686,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.75.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 2.5%

SWX traded up $1.97 on Friday, reaching $79.81. 458,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,800. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $77.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.33. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $80.54. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.