Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Sells 54,687 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation by 4.1%, selling 54,687 shares and now owning approximately 1.80% of the company valued at $92.6 million.
• Southwest Gas reported a 12-month revenue decline of 5.2% year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.53 for the last quarter, beating analyst estimates.
• Institutional ownership of Southwest Gas is high, with 92.77% of the stock currently held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,290,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 54,687 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned 1.80% of Southwest Gas worth $92,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 99.5% during the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,452,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter valued at about $952,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX stock traded up $1.7210 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.2910. The company had a trading volume of 384,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,917. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $80.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $76.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.30.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.