Entropy Technologies LP Buys New Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP acquired 11,586 Southwest Gas shares worth approximately $1.0 million in the first quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company, with several major firms recently initiating or expanding positions.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: Southwest Gas has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $97.29, while recent targets range as high as $106.
• Southwest Gas reported quarterly EPS of $1.91, beating estimates, though revenue fell 21.6% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, equivalent to a 2.8% annual yield.

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,930,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 281.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,887,000 after buying an additional 338,600 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter worth about $27,052,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,913,000 after acquiring an additional 228,496 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth about $16,200,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $92.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas Corporation has a twelve month low of $75.75 and a twelve month high of $94.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.11.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas's revenue for the quarter was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.39%.

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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