Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from sell to hold, adding to a broadly positive analyst backdrop for the utility stock.
• Other analysts have turned more bullish as well, including Citigroup raising its target to $106 and JPMorgan moving the stock to overweight; the consensus rating is now Buy with a $95.67 target.
• Southwest Gas reported Q1 EPS of $1.91, edging past estimates, but revenue fell 21.6% year over year to $585.12 million, below expectations; the company also guided FY 2026 EPS to 4.17-4.32.

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

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Gas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.67.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $89.91 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $88.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $66.93 and a 52 week high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.The business had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business'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. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 5.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,724 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 121,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,541,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 41,205 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,581,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,825 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company's stock.

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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