Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

SWX has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $91.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.95 and its 200-day moving average is $83.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.60. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $66.93 and a 52 week high of $93.44.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $480.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.01 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 14.77%.Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a positive change from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.