Brokerages Set Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) PT at $97.29

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

SWX has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,126,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,830,000 after acquiring an additional 78,874 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,913,000 after purchasing an additional 228,496 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,602,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $128,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,515 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,060,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,883,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,014,287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,145 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $91.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $74.90 and a 52 week high of $94.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.04.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 37.39%.

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.