Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 18,600 Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 18,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $66,930,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,052,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 176.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,307,000 after purchasing an additional 320,145 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,913,000 after buying an additional 228,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $16,200,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $88.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $72.43 and a 12 month high of $94.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.66.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its 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. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

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.