Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $79.73 and traded as high as $84.29. Southwest Gas shares last traded at $83.4760, with a volume of 350,630 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SWX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The firm had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company 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.