Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 71,389 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation, selling 71,389 shares and owning approximately 9.22% of the company, worth $475.7 million, after the sale.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter, indicating strong institutional interest, with 92.77% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Southwest Gas reported better-than-expected earnings per share of $0.53 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, though revenue was down 5.2% year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,625,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 71,389 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.22% of Southwest Gas worth $475,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 366,475 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,913,000 after acquiring an additional 32,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter worth $6,946,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,616,000 after acquiring an additional 30,863 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE SWX traded down $1.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.69. 564,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,990. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.25. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.69 and a 1 year high of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.12 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Southwest Gas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.25.

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.