Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $79.73 and traded as high as $84.29. Southwest Gas shares last traded at $83.4760, with a volume of 350,630 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Southwest Gas Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.73.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The business had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the second quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 194.6% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.