Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $85.20 and traded as high as $89.99. Southwest Gas shares last traded at $89.8170, with a volume of 368,591 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.1%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.20. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWX. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 30.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 547.9% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 23,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 19,720 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 176.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,307,000 after purchasing an additional 320,145 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 930,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,911,000 after purchasing an additional 226,231 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.