Optimize Financial Inc Purchases New Shares in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Optimize Financial Inc has acquired 3,469 shares of Southwest Gas Corporation, valued at approximately $249,000, during the first quarter according to its Form 13F filing with the SEC.
• Analyst ratings for Southwest Gas have varied, with Jefferies Financial Group upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and a target price increase to $82.00, while JPMorgan Chase lowered their target from $79.00 to $75.00.
• Southwest Gas reported a quarterly EPS of $0.53, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.42, although its revenue of $1.12 billion fell short of estimates of $1.17 billion.

Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,469 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 99.5% in the 1st 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. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $952,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 311,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,335,000 after purchasing an additional 10,893 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have 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 upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.25.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $79.11. 87,697 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,066. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.46. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $80.54. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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.