Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.11), Briefing.com reports. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 14.77%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.170-4.320 EPS.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:SWX traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.60. The stock had a trading volume of 117,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,570. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $66.93 and a one year high of $94.43. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.72 and a 200 day moving average of $84.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 39.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 74.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,073,000 after buying an additional 89,761 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 14.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 190,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,703,000 after buying an additional 24,688 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 70.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 36,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 15,127 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 2.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 393,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,241,000 after buying an additional 10,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SWX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $96.00 price objective on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.40.

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.