Petrus Trust Company LTA Takes Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 7,262 shares of Southwest Gas Corporation, valued at approximately $521,000, as part of its new investment during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Southwest Gas, with AQR Capital Management growing by 208.2% and Adage Capital Partners adding 72.2% to their positions.
• The latest earnings report showed Southwest Gas had an EPS of $0.53, exceeding estimates but experiencing a 5.2% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 stake in Southwest Gas by 144.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SWX. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Bank of America raised Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.25.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE:SWX traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $79.00. 162,720 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,781. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.69 and a 12 month high of $80.54.

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