NextDecade (NEXT) Competitors

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) and NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, SWX or NEXT?

Southwest Gas has higher revenue and earnings than NextDecade. NextDecade is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southwest Gas	$4.83B	1.08	$150.89M	$3.11	23.35
NextDecade	N/A	N/A	-$162.26M	-$0.68	-12.41

Does the media prefer SWX or NEXT?

In the previous week, Southwest Gas had 3 more articles in the media than NextDecade. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Southwest Gas and 4 mentions for NextDecade. NextDecade's average media sentiment score of 1.85 beat Southwest Gas' score of 0.84 indicating that NextDecade is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Gas	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NextDecade	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in SWX or NEXT?

92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of NextDecade shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of NextDecade shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SWX or NEXT?

Southwest Gas received 75 more outperform votes than NextDecade when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.81% of users gave NextDecade an outperform vote while only 51.18% of users gave Southwest Gas an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southwest Gas	Outperform Votes 282 51.18%	Underperform Votes 269 48.82%
NextDecade	Outperform Votes 207 58.81%	Underperform Votes 145 41.19%

Is SWX or NEXT more profitable?

Southwest Gas has a net margin of 3.44% compared to NextDecade's net margin of 0.00%. Southwest Gas' return on equity of 5.99% beat NextDecade's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Gas	3.44%	5.99%	1.76%
NextDecade	N/A	-22.67%	-5.47%

Do analysts prefer SWX or NEXT?

Southwest Gas presently has a consensus price target of $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.29%. Given Southwest Gas' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Southwest Gas is more favorable than NextDecade.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
NextDecade	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility & risk, SWX or NEXT?

Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NextDecade has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Southwest Gas beats NextDecade on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.