StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) in a research note issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the energy company’s stock.

SWN has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho upgraded Southwestern Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southwestern Energy from $6.00 to $6.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Southwestern Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Southwestern Energy from $8.00 to $8.24 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $6.60 price objective (down previously from $8.50) on shares of Southwestern Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.86.

Southwestern Energy Stock Performance

SWN stock opened at $7.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.81 and a 200-day moving average of $6.70. Southwestern Energy has a 12-month low of $4.57 and a 12-month high of $7.69.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The energy company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Southwestern Energy had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 23.87%. Southwestern Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 49.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwestern Energy will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwestern Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWN. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Southwestern Energy by 481.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,655 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 3,854 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwestern Energy in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwestern Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Southwestern Energy by 390.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,400 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwestern Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.97% of the company’s stock.

Southwestern Energy Company Profile

Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Marketing. The company focuses on the development of unconventional natural gas and oil reservoirs located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana.