Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:SWX opened at $88.19 on Wednesday. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $71.00 and a twelve month high of $94.43. The company has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

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

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.39%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.