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

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Gas stock opened at $82.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.16. Southwest Gas has a one year low of $76.74 and a one year high of $94.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The business had revenue of $358.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 80.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Gas during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Southwest Gas by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc is a regulated energy company that provides natural gas distribution services through its subsidiary, Southwest Gas Corporation. The utility delivers natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers, primarily in Arizona, Nevada and portions of California, serving communities across the desert Southwest.

The company’s utility operations include the acquisition, transportation and distribution of natural gas through a network of pipelines and related infrastructure.