Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho set a $96.00 target price on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 301.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth about $72,000. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX opened at $89.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Southwest Gas has a 12-month low of $69.72 and a 12-month high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced 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. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.The company had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 37.39%.

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.