Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Cut to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a "hold" to a "sell," though the consensus across analysts remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $88.40 and some firms (e.g., Citigroup) raising ratings to "buy."
• Q4 results missed expectations: Southwest Gas reported EPS of $1.36 vs. $1.40 expected and revenue of $480.7M vs. $587.0M expected, with revenue down 13.1% year-over-year, and provided FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.170–4.320.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors own about 92.77% of the company's stock, with several institutions modestly increasing their stakes in the most recent quarter.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SWX. Citigroup raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $91.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.60. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $66.93 and a 1 year high of $93.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.33.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $480.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.01 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 14.77%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 8,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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