Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SWX) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on SWX shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Gas

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SWX. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 206.2% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 94,500.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Southwest Gas by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.7 %

SWX opened at $74.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas has a 1-year low of $64.31 and a 1-year high of $80.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.67.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Southwest Gas’s payout ratio is 90.18%.

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.