Brokerages Set Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Target Price at $97.29

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.2857.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SWX. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.5%

Southwest Gas stock opened at $87.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $71.78 and a 1 year high of $94.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.02.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter worth $66,930,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 106.9% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 699,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,797,000 after buying an additional 361,556 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 281.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,887,000 after buying an additional 338,600 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 176.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,307,000 after buying an additional 320,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

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.