Wolfe Research Upgrades Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) to “Strong-Buy”

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Mizuho set a $103.00 price objective on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $101.25.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of SWX traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $91.49. 686,986 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 660,732. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.35. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $78.37 and a 1 year high of $94.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.55.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 31.85%. The company had revenue of $298.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $204,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,163,874.50. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $991,549,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in Southwest Gas by 3.9% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,126,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,830,000 after purchasing an additional 78,874 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,324,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 106.9% during the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 699,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,797,000 after buying an additional 361,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 281.2% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,887,000 after buying an additional 338,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company purchases, transports and delivers natural gas through its distribution networks, while also providing services related to system operations, maintenance, customer support and energy conservation.

Southwest Gas serves communities in Arizona, Nevada and portions of California. Its service territory includes major metropolitan areas such as Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as numerous smaller communities across the southwestern United States.