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

Key Points

• Southwest Gas Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average twelve-month price target of $79.75.
• Recent analyst activity includes upgrades from Jefferies Financial Group and Bank of America, raising their price targets for the stock to $82.00 and $84.00, respectively.
• The company reported earnings of $0.53 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing consensus estimates, but experienced a 5.2% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.75.

SWX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 99.5% during the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,680 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas during the first quarter worth about $952,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,061 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $78.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.40. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $64.69 and a 52 week high of $80.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

About Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.

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