Aventail Capital Group LP Reduces Stock Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP cut its Southwest Gas stake by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,661 shares and leaving it with 49,451 shares worth about $3.96 million.
• Southwest Gas reported better-than-expected EPS of $1.91, though quarterly revenue of $585.12 million came in below analyst estimates and fell 21.6% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.645 per share, and analysts remain generally bullish with a consensus Buy rating and average target price of $97.29.

Aventail Capital Group LP lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,661 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP owned approximately 0.07% of Southwest Gas worth $3,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 146.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,902,000 after buying an additional 1,054,963 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 176.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,307,000 after buying an additional 320,145 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 930,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,911,000 after buying an additional 226,231 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 84,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,774,000 after buying an additional 13,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter worth about $1,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $87.17 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $89.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $72.43 and a one year high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.Southwest Gas's revenue for the quarter was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Southwest Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 price objective on Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.29.

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.

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