Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New $2.10 Million Investment in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 24,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 84,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,774,000 after purchasing an additional 13,623 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $1,361,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $1,086,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas during the first quarter valued at $986,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 177.3% during the fourth quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 11,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 7,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SWX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Southwest Gas Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of SWX stock opened at $93.05 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Southwest Gas Corporation has a 1-year low of $75.75 and a 1-year high of $94.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.58.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $585.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

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

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.