Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Southwest Gas has an average analyst rating of “Buy” from eight brokerages, with five buy and two strong buy ratings; the average 1-year price target is about $97.29.
• The stock was trading down slightly at $89.54, while the company’s recent earnings topped EPS expectations at $1.91 per share, though revenue fell short of estimates and declined 21.6% year over year.
• Southwest Gas recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.645 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $2.58 and a yield of about 2.9%.

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Buy" by the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SWX shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of SWX traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 577,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 668,917. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company's 50-day moving average is $89.08 and its 200-day moving average is $86.75. Southwest Gas has a 52-week low of $72.43 and a 52-week high of $94.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas's revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,375,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

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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