Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $86.80 and last traded at $86.29, with a volume of 85733 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on SWX shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.65.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,338,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the 4th quarter valued at $27,052,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 176.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,307,000 after purchasing an additional 320,145 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 32.1% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 930,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,911,000 after purchasing an additional 226,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.