Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% during 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 valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 301.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $88.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.76. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $71.00 and a one year high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The business 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 firm’s revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

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

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.