Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SWX shares. 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 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $91.19. 6,432 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 577,788. 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 has a 12-month low of $75.75 and a 12-month high of $94.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.60 and its 200 day moving average is $88.18. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.58.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 37.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.