Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Southwest Gas had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The firm's revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share.
Southwest Gas Stock Performance
SWX stock traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $73.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 330,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,281. Southwest Gas has a 1 year low of $57.03 and a 1 year high of $79.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.54.
Southwest Gas Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Southwest Gas's payout ratio is 98.41%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Gas from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Gas from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.
View Our Latest Analysis on SWX
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CFO Robert J. Stefani sold 767 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total value of $56,098.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,177,055.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Southwest Gas
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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