Southwest Gas’ (SWX) “Underperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reiterated by Bank of America in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $73.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.21% from the stock’s current price.

SWX has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $72.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.68. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $57.55 and a 1 year high of $80.29.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,390,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.74, for a total value of $106,668,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,632,604 shares in the company, valued at $739,206,030.96. This trade represents a 12.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 234.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 37,418 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 206,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,506,000 after purchasing an additional 60,856 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $1,349,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 267,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,737,000 after purchasing an additional 7,858 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 977,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,123,000 after purchasing an additional 35,106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.