Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Research Coverage Started at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a peer perform rating and a $92.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, October 5th. Mizuho set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.12.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:SWX opened at $84.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.87. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Southwest Gas has a 1-year low of $76.74 and a 1-year high of $94.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The company had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Southwest Gas’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.6450 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 33.68%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In related news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $991,549,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,324,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 106.9% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 699,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,797,000 after acquiring an additional 361,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 281.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,887,000 after acquiring an additional 338,600 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SWX) is an energy company whose principal business is the regulated distribution of natural gas through its Southwest Gas Corporation subsidiary. The utility delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, providing an essential energy service for heating, cooking and business operations.

Southwest Gas serves customers across portions of Arizona, Nevada and California through an extensive network of pipelines and related infrastructure.