Norges Bank Invests $66.93 Million in Southwest Gas Corporation $SWX

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 836,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $66,930,000. Norges Bank owned 1.16% of Southwest Gas as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SWX. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Gas by 905.3% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Gas by 223.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Southwest Gas during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Southwest Gas by 301.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Southwest Gas by 21.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SWX shares. UBS Group set a $100.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Southwest Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $96.00 price target on Southwest Gas in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Gas from $99.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $97.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SWX opened at $88.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Southwest Gas Corporation has a one year low of $70.03 and a one year high of $94.43. The company has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Southwest Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a boost from Southwest Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.39%.

About Southwest Gas

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.