Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $83.23 and last traded at $81.7550, with a volume of 367952 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SWX. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, August 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Southwest Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised Southwest Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Southwest Gas Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.00. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $316.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Gas

In other Southwest Gas news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn sold 1,500,000 shares of Southwest Gas stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.91, for a total value of $116,865,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,032,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,000,177.64. The trade was a 19.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SWX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 146.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,773,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,963 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Gas during the second quarter worth about $63,338,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 72.2% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,550,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,290,000 after buying an additional 650,000 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Gas by 176.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,307,000 after buying an additional 320,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Gas by 32.1% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 930,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,911,000 after buying an additional 226,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Gas Company Profile

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, distributes and transports natural gas in Arizona, Nevada, and California. The company operates through Natural Gas Distribution, Utility Infrastructure Services, and Pipeline and Storage segments. It also provides trenching, installation, and replacement of underground pipes, as well as maintenance services for energy distribution systems.