Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Coverage Initiated at Mizuho

Research analysts at Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SWX opened at $79.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $82.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.97.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.11. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 4.06%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at $470,000,177.64. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SWX. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1,001.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Gas by 1,015.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the second quarter worth $779,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 8.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $381,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.