Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) Raised to Strong-Buy at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Southwest Gas in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Southwest Gas Stock Up 1.4 %

SWX opened at $76.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Southwest Gas has a twelve month low of $64.31 and a twelve month high of $80.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.90.

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.18. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Gas will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southwest Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,117,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,290 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 174.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 27,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 17,269 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 166,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,749,000 after acquiring an additional 38,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Gas by 884.4% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 910,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,390,000 after acquiring an additional 818,115 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.