Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $99.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.83% from the company’s previous close.

SWX has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.67.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWX opened at $90.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.95 and a 200 day moving average of $84.46. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.62. Southwest Gas has a 12 month low of $66.93 and a 12 month high of $94.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 301.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

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.