Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.22. 297,375 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,500. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. Southwest Gas has a 52-week low of $75.75 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.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $269,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 8.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 16.8% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 13,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 54.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 395,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,355,000 after acquiring an additional 139,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the 1st quarter valued at $4,364,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.