Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys 19,720 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 547.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,720 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SWX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth about $422,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 175,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,025,000 after purchasing an additional 10,150 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $779,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 763,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,783,000 after purchasing an additional 14,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 8.0% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $82.86 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.69 and a fifty-two week high of $86.75. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.85.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 38.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Southwest Gas 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.