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

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX – Get Free Report) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $85.20 and traded as high as $89.99. Southwest Gas shares last traded at $89.8170, with a volume of 368,591 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SWX shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $97.00.

Read Our Latest Research Report on SWX

Southwest Gas Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.20. The company has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.62.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.The company had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $695.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWX. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 74.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,073,000 after purchasing an additional 89,761 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 14.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 190,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,703,000 after purchasing an additional 24,688 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 70.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 36,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 15,127 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 393,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,241,000 after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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