Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $93.52 and last traded at $93.0250, with a volume of 76891 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $91.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SWX shares. Citigroup raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 2.4%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.01. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.04). Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 14.77%.The firm had revenue of $480.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is an increase from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,052,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,531,000 after buying an additional 19,403 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,048,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,885,000 after buying an additional 94,535 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,902,000 after buying an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in 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 worth $131,913,000 after buying an additional 228,496 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $128,219,000 after buying an additional 9,515 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.