Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.3%

SWX stock opened at $67.89 on Tuesday. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $80.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.50 and a 200-day moving average of $73.61.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The utilities provider reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 2,100,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $156,660,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,532,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $561,932,258.40. The trade was a 21.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 192.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 105,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 69,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 88.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,705 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 110,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,836,000 after purchasing an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 11,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Company 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.