AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation ($SWX) by 208.2% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.32% of the company after acquiring an additional 153,637 shares.
• Southwest Gas reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.53 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, despite a 5.2% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Bank of America upgraded its rating for Southwest Gas from "neutral" to "buy" and set a new target price of $84.00, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts for the stock.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 208.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 227,415 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 153,637 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.32% of Southwest Gas worth $16,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 833 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SWX shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.25.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $79.68. 362,659 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,733. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.49. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $80.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Southwest Gas's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.