Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was upgraded by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $100.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.14% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.80.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $90.79 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.90 and a 200-day moving average of $84.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.45. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $66.93 and a twelve month high of $94.43. The firm has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.62.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $585.12 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 30.6% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 224,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,599,000 after purchasing an additional 52,573 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 547.9% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 23,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,827,000 after buying an additional 19,720 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,902,000 after buying an additional 1,054,963 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 930,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,911,000 after buying an additional 226,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 176.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,307,000 after acquiring an additional 320,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.