Royal Bank of Canada Sells 60,656 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 51.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 60,656 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.08% of Southwest Gas worth $4,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 74.7% during the first 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 boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 70.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 36,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 393,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $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 Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of SWX opened at $92.14 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.25 and a 200-day moving average of $88.67. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $75.75 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 31.85%.The company had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SWX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

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.