Southwest Gas Stock Gets Lower EPS Estimate from Scotiabank

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) – Equities research analysts at Scotiabank reduced their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Southwest Gas in a research report issued on Wednesday, November 11th. Scotiabank analyst I. Rapp now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $4.26 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $4.29. Scotiabank has a “Sector Outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Southwest Gas’ current full-year earnings is $4.27 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for Southwest Gas’ FY2027 earnings at $4.97 EPS.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The business had revenue of $298.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SWX. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Southwest Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Southwest Gas from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $101.25.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $93.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $78.37 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $991,549,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,324,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,572,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 106.9% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 699,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,797,000 after purchasing an additional 361,556 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 281.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,887,000 after purchasing an additional 338,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $204,525.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.6450 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.93%.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas provides regulated natural gas distribution service to homes and businesses in the southwestern United States. Its utility operations include delivering natural gas through local pipeline networks and maintaining the infrastructure needed to serve customers. The company serves customers in Arizona and Nevada, as well as parts of California. Its service area includes major metropolitan regions and smaller communities across these states. Southwest Gas traces its history to 1931 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.