Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $90.08 and last traded at $90.00, with a volume of 163337 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SWX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.66.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $480.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.01 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.