Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 11.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 846,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,456 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.17% of Southwest Gas worth $73,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SWX. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX stock opened at $92.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.76. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1 year low of $75.75 and a 1 year high of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 19.95% and a return on equity of 6.95%. Southwest Gas’s revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SWX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

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.