Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SWX. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho set a $103.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.25.

View Our Latest Analysis on Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Southwest Gas stock opened at $91.49 on Friday. Southwest Gas has a 52 week low of $78.37 and a 52 week high of $94.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 17.23%. The firm had revenue of $298.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 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 Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.6450 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 62.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $204,525.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,163,874.50. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Gas by 1.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 6,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 8.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.1% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.0% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.7% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE: SWX) is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company purchases, transports and delivers natural gas through its distribution networks, while also providing services related to system operations, maintenance, customer support and energy conservation.

Southwest Gas serves communities in Arizona, Nevada and portions of California. Its service territory includes major metropolitan areas such as Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as numerous smaller communities across the southwestern United States.

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