Southwest Gas (SWX) Competitors

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

Is NFG or SWX a better dividend stock?

National Fuel Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Southwest Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. National Fuel Gas pays out 80.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Southwest Gas pays out 92.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. National Fuel Gas has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Which has better valuation & earnings, NFG or SWX?

Southwest Gas has higher revenue and earnings than National Fuel Gas. Southwest Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Fuel 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
National Fuel Gas	$1.94B	4.04	$77.51M	$2.66	32.69
Southwest Gas	$5.11B	1.10	$198.82M	$2.68	29.04

Does the media refer more to NFG or SWX?

In the previous week, National Fuel Gas had 8 more articles in the media than Southwest Gas. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for National Fuel Gas and 8 mentions for Southwest Gas. Southwest Gas' average media sentiment score of 1.66 beat National Fuel Gas' score of 1.28 indicating that Southwest Gas is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Fuel Gas	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Southwest Gas	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is NFG or SWX more profitable?

National Fuel Gas has a net margin of 11.15% compared to Southwest Gas' net margin of 4.06%. National Fuel Gas' return on equity of 20.81% beat Southwest Gas' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Fuel Gas	11.15%	20.81%	7.03%
Southwest Gas	4.06%	6.98%	2.20%

Which has more volatility & risk, NFG or SWX?

National Fuel Gas has a beta of 0.65, indicating that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate NFG or SWX?

National Fuel Gas presently has a consensus target price of $96.67, indicating a potential upside of 11.16%. Southwest Gas has a consensus target price of $77.25, indicating a potential downside of 0.74%. Given National Fuel Gas' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe National Fuel Gas is more favorable than Southwest Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Fuel Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Southwest Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Do insiders & institutionals believe in NFG or SWX?

74.0% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

National Fuel Gas beats Southwest Gas on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.