Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Raises Stock Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,189 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $63,338,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 404,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,970,000 after purchasing an additional 177,421 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,993,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,309,000 after purchasing an additional 167,114 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at $8,942,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 74.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,073,000 after purchasing an additional 89,761 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $82.86 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1-year low of $64.69 and a 1-year high of $86.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.65.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The firm 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 firm earned $0.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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

Southwest Gas Company Profile

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.