Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases 18,745 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 123.6% in the first quarter, owning 33,913 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million.
• Several hedge funds also raised their stakes significantly, with one, Farther Finance Advisors LLC, increasing its stake by 1,055.0%.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Southwest Gas ratings, with firms such as Jefferies and Bank of America moving their ratings to "buy" and increasing price targets.

Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 123.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,913 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,745 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $2,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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 period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of SWX traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $78.53. 313,043 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 329,462. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $77.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.38. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $80.54.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. dropped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.75.

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.