Sei Investments Co. Boosts Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 96.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,997 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $8,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE SWX opened at $89.50 on Monday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $75.75 and a one year high of $94.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.58.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced 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 company had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Southwest Gas 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.