Fifth Third Bancorp Has $5.88 Million Stock Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its stake in Southwest Gas, reporting ownership of 67,655 shares worth about $5.88 million after buying an additional 67,166 shares in the first quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with several firms raising ratings or price targets; the stock currently carries a consensus Buy rating and a $97.29 average target price.
• Southwest Gas posted mixed recent results: it beat EPS estimates in its latest quarter, but revenue missed expectations and fell 21.6% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, yielding 2.8% annually.

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) by 13,735.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 67,166 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.09% of Southwest Gas worth $5,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SWX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 21.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $92.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.02 and a 200-day moving average of $87.42. The company has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.75 and a 1 year high of $94.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The business had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is currently 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.

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