Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Stock Price

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $107.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on SWX. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

SWX stock opened at $92.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.90 and a 200-day moving average of $88.51. The company has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Southwest Gas has a 12-month low of $75.75 and a 12-month high of $94.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 31.85%.The business had revenue of $358.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $991,549,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $74,324,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,930,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 106.9% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 699,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,797,000 after purchasing an additional 361,556 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 281.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,887,000 after purchasing an additional 338,600 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.