Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Southwest Gas during the first quarter, buying 18,600 shares valued at about $1.6 million.
• Southwest Gas reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.91, though revenue of $585.12 million missed estimates and fell 21.6% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.645 per share, boosting the annualized payout to $2.58 for a yield of about 2.9%.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,616,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,048,053 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,885,000 after acquiring an additional 94,535 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,602,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $128,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,515 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,060,751 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $84,883,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,014,287 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,145 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $88.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company's fifty day moving average price is $89.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.66. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52-week low of $72.43 and a 52-week high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Southwest Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio is 37.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased 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. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $97.29.

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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