Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Receives $98.29 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.6667.

A number of research analysts have commented on SWX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second 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 period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in 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. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:SWX opened at $88.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $76.59 and a one year high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.33.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $358.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.20 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.68%.

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.