Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,278 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $307,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter worth about $952,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 869 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
SWX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.25.
View Our Latest Report on Southwest Gas
Southwest Gas Price Performance
SWX traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $77.81. The company had a trading volume of 423,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,045. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.79. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $80.29.
Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Southwest Gas's quarterly revenue was down 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.
Southwest Gas Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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