Brokerages Set Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) PT at $88.40

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.40.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SWX. Citigroup raised Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 146.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,963 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,338,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new position in Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $27,052,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 176.3% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,913,000 after buying an additional 228,496 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of SWX stock opened at $89.46 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.12. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $64.69 and a one year high of $90.00. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.04). Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The firm had revenue of $480.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

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.