JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 1,054,963 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 146.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $138,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 40.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SWX shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $87.47 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.69 and a 52-week high of $88.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.65. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.60.

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.