Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,873 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,071,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,873 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $93,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,048,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,885,000 after acquiring an additional 94,535 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,913,000 after purchasing an additional 228,496 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,602,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,515 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,060,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,883,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,014,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,145 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of SWX opened at $91.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $75.75 and a one year high of $94.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.34.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.The business’s revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SWX. Mizuho increased their target price on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price objective on Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $97.29.

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.