Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) SVP Julie Williams Sells 2,500 Shares of Company Stock

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $204,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.16. 660,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 584,893. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $76.74 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $358.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.20 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.6450 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SWX. Scotiabank began coverage on Southwest Gas in a report on Tuesday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $103.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 54.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 395,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,355,000 after purchasing an additional 139,872 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Southwest Gas by 204.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 25,569 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,799,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $986,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 616.6% in the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 17,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after buying an additional 14,781 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc is a regulated energy company that provides natural gas distribution services through its subsidiary, Southwest Gas Corporation. The utility delivers natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers, primarily in Arizona, Nevada and portions of California, serving communities across the desert Southwest.

The company’s utility operations include the acquisition, transportation and distribution of natural gas through a network of pipelines and related infrastructure.