Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on SWX. Mizuho set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $92.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas has a fifty-two week low of $75.75 and a fifty-two week high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $358.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. 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. Research analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 33.68%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 74.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,073,000 after purchasing an additional 89,761 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 14.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 190,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,703,000 after buying an additional 24,688 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 70.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 36,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after buying an additional 15,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 393,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 10,122 shares during 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.