Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.50.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total transaction of $116,865,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This trade represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SWX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,052,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $552,531,000 after acquiring an additional 19,403 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in Southwest Gas by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 1,993,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $148,309,000 after purchasing an additional 167,114 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 146.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 4.5% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,620,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,512,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,544,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,902,000 after buying an additional 54,318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SWX traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 37,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,033. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.18 and a 200-day moving average of $78.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.63. Southwest Gas has a 12-month low of $64.69 and a 12-month high of $83.11.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $316.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 11.59%.The company’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.09 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.