Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Invests $3.02 Million in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 34,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,018,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $991,549,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,324,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth $66,930,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $39,572,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 106.9% in 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. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of SWX opened at $89.36 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 12 month low of $76.59 and a 12 month high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.29. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 31.85%.The company had revenue of $358.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.20 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SWX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

Southwest Gas 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.