Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. sold 13,170 shares of Southwest Gas Corporation, reducing its stake by 1.6%, leaving it with 830,742 shares valued at approximately $59.6 million.
• Several institutional investors made changes to their positions in Southwest Gas during the first quarter, with UMB Bank n.a. making the most significant increase at 41.2%.
• Southwest Gas reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, although its revenue was down 5.2% year-over-year.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 830,742 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,170 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 1.16% of Southwest Gas worth $59,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 884.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,686,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 328.1% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 223,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,821,000 after acquiring an additional 171,478 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,781,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 217.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 154,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,098,000 after acquiring an additional 105,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock traded up $1.97 on Friday, reaching $79.81. The stock had a trading volume of 458,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,027. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.35.

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

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.