Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) Stock Has Average Target Price of $101.25 According to Analysts

Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $106.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Mizuho set a $103.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Southwest Gas from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

SWX stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.49. The company had a trading volume of 686,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,732. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.35. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.12. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $78.37 and a twelve month high of $94.46.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $298.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.50 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 31.85% and a return on equity of 6.79%. Southwest Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.6450 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 62.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $204,525.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Gas by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 increased its stake 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 worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased 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 increased 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. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 1.7% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 11,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Southwest Gas

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.