Wall Street Zen Downgrades Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) to Sell

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $82.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Southwest Gas has a fifty-two week low of $76.74 and a fifty-two week high of $94.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.93. The firm has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Gas

In related news, SVP Julie Williams sold 2,500 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $204,525.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,450 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,874.50. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 27.5% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Southwest Gas by 80.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SWX) is an energy company whose principal business is the regulated distribution of natural gas through its Southwest Gas Corporation subsidiary. The utility delivers natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers, providing an essential energy service for heating, cooking and business operations.

Southwest Gas serves customers across portions of Arizona, Nevada and California through an extensive network of pipelines and related infrastructure.