Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 9,701 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,701 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.13% of Southwest Gas worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $90.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $72.43 and a 1 year high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost 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 was Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 37.39%.

Southwest Gas 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.