Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $90.08 and last traded at $90.00, with a volume of 163337 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $82.00 to $99.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.40.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $480.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.01 million. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,052,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $552,531,000 after buying an additional 19,403 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 2,048,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,885,000 after buying an additional 94,535 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,902,000 after buying an additional 1,054,963 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,648,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,913,000 after buying an additional 228,496 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Gas by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,602,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,219,000 after buying an additional 9,515 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.