Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Sells 4,317 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Keeley Teton Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation by 4.0% in Q1, holding 103,593 shares valued at approximately $7.44 million.
• Institutional investors now own 92.77% of Southwest Gas, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Zimmer Partners LP and Tudor Investment Corp.
• Southwest Gas reported earnings of $0.53 per share, exceeding estimates, with total revenue of $1.12 billion, though this reflects a year-over-year decline of 5.2%.

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,593 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,317 shares during the period. Southwest Gas comprises about 0.9% of Keeley Teton Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of Southwest Gas worth $7,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 valued at $72,850,000 after purchasing an additional 27,407 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 884.4% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $64,390,000 after buying an additional 818,115 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 818,023 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,842,000 after buying an additional 97,709 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 471,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,351,000 after buying an additional 21,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $31,686,000. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SWX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.75.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.81. 458,956 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,027. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $64.69 and a 52 week high of $80.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.35.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Southwest Gas's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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.