Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX Position Lessened by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,297 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.25% of Southwest Gas worth $15,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position 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 worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew 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 increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 0.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 0.1%

Southwest Gas stock opened at $92.98 on Friday. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 52 week low of $75.75 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

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

Southwest Gas Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on SWX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Southwest Gas 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.