Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,119,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 59,623 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.56% of Southwest Gas worth $87,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 9.1% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,993,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,309,000 after purchasing an additional 167,114 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,620,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,512,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,544,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,902,000 after acquiring an additional 54,318 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,048,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,998,000 after acquiring an additional 75,182 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 860,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,000,000 after acquiring an additional 29,595 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 1.0%

SWX opened at $82.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.93. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $86.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 11.59%.The business had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.40.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is a publicly traded natural gas utility that provides regulated gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial and electric generation customers. The company’s core activities include the transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas through an extensive network of pipelines, service lines and metering facilities. Southwest Gas also offers related services such as system maintenance, pipeline safety inspections, emergency response and line extensions to support customer growth and ensure reliable gas delivery.

Founded in 1931 in southern Nevada, Southwest Gas has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the nation’s larger natural gas utilities by customer count.