Northern Trust Corp Sells 39,616 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp sold 39,616 shares of Southwest Gas Corporation, reducing its position by 4.8%, and now holds approximately 1.08% of the company valued at $55.89 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently increased their stakes in Southwest Gas, with Zimmer Partners LP boosting its stake by 884.4%, now owning over 910,000 shares valued at $64.39 million.
• Southwest Gas reported earnings of $0.53 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 5.2% to $1.12 billion.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 778,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 39,616 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.08% of Southwest Gas worth $55,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 99.5% in the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter valued at $952,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SWX. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.75.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $1.97 on Friday, hitting $79.81. 458,956 shares of the company 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 quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.35. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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 was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current 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.