Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

SWX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 target price on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $83.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. Southwest Gas has a 1-year low of $76.74 and a 1-year high of $94.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.91.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The company had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.6450 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Gas news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $204,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWX. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 395,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,355,000 after purchasing an additional 139,872 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Southwest Gas by 204.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25,569 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,513,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,799,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $986,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SWX) is an energy company whose principal business is the regulated distribution of natural gas through its Southwest Gas Corporation subsidiary. The utility delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, providing an essential energy service for heating, cooking and business operations.

Southwest Gas serves customers across portions of Arizona, Nevada and California through an extensive network of pipelines and related infrastructure.