WBI Investments LLC Purchases New Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• WBI Investments LLC has acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation, purchasing 26,180 shares valued at approximately $1,880,000.
• Bank of America and Wall Street Zen have upgraded Southwest Gas to a buy rating, with price targets now set between $84.00 and $88.00.
• Southwest Gas reported EPS of $0.53 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.42, although revenue decreased by 5.2% year-over-year.

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 26,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,880,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1,055.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 144.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of SWX traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.64. The stock had a trading volume of 58,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,576. 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 $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $78.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.49.

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 (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Southwest Gas's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect 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.