Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.67.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $89.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Southwest Gas has a 1-year low of $66.93 and a 1-year high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. Southwest Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.94%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 74.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,073,000 after acquiring an additional 89,761 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 190,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,703,000 after purchasing an additional 24,688 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 70.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 36,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 393,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company 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.