Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN - Free Report) by 55.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,330,974 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,268,429 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.57% of Southwestern Energy worth $41,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Southwestern Energy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,332,203 shares of the energy company's stock worth $192,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,108 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwestern Energy by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,385 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Southwestern Energy by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 971,618 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,364,000 after acquiring an additional 186,421 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Southwestern Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,506,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Southwestern Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $2,438,000. Institutional investors own 86.97% of the company's stock.

Southwestern Energy Price Performance

Shares of SWN stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $7.54. 8,417,112 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,583,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Southwestern Energy has a 52 week low of $4.72 and a 52 week high of $7.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.90. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). Southwestern Energy had a negative net margin of 32.93% and a positive return on equity of 9.00%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Southwestern Energy's revenue was down 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwestern Energy will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Southwestern Energy from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $9.00 to $9.50 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwestern Energy from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Southwestern Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Southwestern Energy from $6.60 to $7.60 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.25.

About Southwestern Energy

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.