Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 9,701 Shares of Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,701 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Southwest Gas were worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 32,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 8,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter worth $174,000. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

NYSE SWX opened at $91.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.96. Southwest Gas Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.92 and a fifty-two week high of $94.43.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $585.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.52 million. Southwest Gas had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 19.95%.Southwest Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Southwest Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.170-4.320 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Gas Corporation will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This is an increase from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is currently 37.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SWX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southwest Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. UBS Group set a $100.00 target price on shares of Southwest Gas in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Southwest Gas 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.