Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Stock Price

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $107.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.55% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:SWX traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 46,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,460. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.48. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $75.75 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The company had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.20 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,126,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,830,000 after buying an additional 78,874 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,913,000 after buying an additional 228,496 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,602,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,219,000 after buying an additional 9,515 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,060,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,883,000 after buying an additional 5,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,014,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.