Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stock Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,010,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,355 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 1.40% of Southwest Gas worth $79,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 149,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,687,000 after acquiring an additional 16,310 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,054,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,637,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 176.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,307,000 after purchasing an additional 320,145 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the third quarter worth approximately $1,025,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.4% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.2%

SWX stock opened at $87.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1-year low of $64.69 and a 1-year high of $90.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.24. The company has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.63.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.04). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $480.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.