Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Key Points

• Southwest Gas reported Q EPS of $1.91, missing estimates by $0.11 and seeing revenue decline of 21.6% YoY, while updating FY2026 guidance to 4.170–4.320 EPS.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.645 (from $0.62), a $2.58 annualized payout with a 2.8% yield; the ex-dividend date is May 15 and the payment date is June 1.
• Shares traded near $93.60 with a market cap of $6.77B and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (target $88.40), and institutional investors own about 92.77% of the stock.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.11), Briefing.com reports. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas's revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.170-4.320 EPS.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.60. The stock had a trading volume of 117,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,570. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.62. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $66.93 and a 1 year high of $94.43. The business's 50 day moving average price is $88.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.18.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 89.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 10,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 4,825 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 230.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $684,000 after acquiring an additional 6,414 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the third quarter worth approximately $423,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $343,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Gas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price objective on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.40.

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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