Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. reduced its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,278 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $4,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 301.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SWX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $97.00.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SWX opened at $86.30 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a twelve month low of $70.03 and a twelve month high of $94.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.40.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 37.39%.

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.