Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Acquires New Stake in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 266,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,657,000. Southwest Gas accounts for 0.5% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the second quarter valued at $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on SWX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.29.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $91.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.75 and a 1 year high of $94.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.57.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.20 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is presently 33.68%.

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.