Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) to Issue $0.62 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Southwest Gas Corporation has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, which will be paid out on December 1st to investors of record as of November 17th, representing a yield of 3.1%.
• The company has a payout ratio of 60.3%, indicating that its dividend is well covered by earnings, and analysts project an earnings per share of $3.69 next year.
• Southwest Gas shares saw a 0.8% increase, trading at $79.06, with a market capitalization of $5.69 billion and a P/E ratio of 29.50.

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th.

Southwest Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 60.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southwest Gas to earn $3.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.2%.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX traded down $0.54 on Friday, hitting $78.46. 1,148,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,366. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.30 and its 200 day moving average is $74.57. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $64.69 and a 52 week high of $80.54. The company has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.25.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

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.