StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the energy company's stock.

SWN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho raised shares of Southwestern Energy from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Southwestern Energy from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a hold rating and issued a $6.60 price objective (down previously from $8.50) on shares of Southwestern Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $6.00 to $6.25 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $8.00 to $8.24 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwestern Energy presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.86.

Southwestern Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWN traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $7.52. The company had a trading volume of 16,259,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,224,836. The firm's fifty day moving average is $6.91 and its 200 day moving average is $6.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.12. Southwestern Energy has a twelve month low of $4.57 and a twelve month high of $7.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The energy company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Southwestern Energy had a net margin of 23.87% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 49.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwestern Energy will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Southwestern Energy by 4,550.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,735,368 shares of the energy company's stock worth $108,678,000 after purchasing an additional 21,268,002 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwestern Energy during the 4th quarter worth $120,352,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwestern Energy by 269.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,958,070 shares of the energy company's stock worth $100,079,000 after buying an additional 10,175,992 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southwestern Energy by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,933,972 shares of the energy company's stock worth $401,047,000 after buying an additional 9,882,224 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwestern Energy by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 25,513,925 shares of the energy company's stock worth $127,570,000 after buying an additional 9,729,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Southwestern Energy Company Profile

Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Marketing. The company focuses on the development of unconventional natural gas and oil reservoirs located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana.