Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $1.52 Million Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 133,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 10.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 34,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after buying an additional 3,242 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,317,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 12.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 149,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,687,000 after buying an additional 16,310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $87.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.97 and a 200-day moving average of $81.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.63. Southwest Gas Corporation has a twelve month low of $64.69 and a twelve month high of $90.00.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $480.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.01 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.40.

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.