National Fuel Gas vs Southwest Gas
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The short version
- National Fuel Gas is the larger business, with $2.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.9B for Southwest Gas.
- National Fuel Gas grew revenue faster (17.1%, against −21.6%).
- National Fuel Gas kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (35.7% operating margin, against 24.4%).
- National Fuel Gas turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.2% FCF margin, against −13.0%).
- National Fuel Gas earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.6%, against 4.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Southwest Gas’s earnings: a P/E of 12.1x against 11.2x for National Fuel Gas.
| Latest fiscal year | NFG · FY25 | SWX · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $7.7B | $6.6B |
| Revenue | $2.3B | $1.9B |
| Free cash flow | $187M | −$252M |
| Net income | $519M | $440M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 17.1% | −21.6% |
| 5-year growth | 8.1% | −10.1% |
| Share count change | −1.2% | 0.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 35.7% | 24.4% |
| Net margin | 22.8% | 22.7% |
| FCF margin | 8.2% | −13.0% |
| Return on capital | 10.6% | 4.7% |
| Return on equity | 33.7% | 11.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.8B | $2.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.2x | 3.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $243M | $179M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 11.2x | 12.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
NFG $1.5B
SWX $2.5B
FY17
NFG $1.6B
SWX $2.5B
FY18
NFG $1.6B
SWX $2.9B
FY19
NFG $1.7B
SWX $3.1B
FY20
NFG $1.5B
SWX $3.3B
FY21
NFG $1.7B
SWX $3.7B
FY22
NFG $2.2B
SWX $5.0B
FY23
NFG $2.2B
SWX $2.5B
FY24
NFG $1.9B
SWX $2.5B
FY25
NFG $2.3B
SWX $1.9B
NFG
SWX
Operating margin
FY16
NFG −28.7%
SWX 12.8%
FY17
NFG 37.6%
SWX 13.5%
FY18
NFG 32.6%
SWX 12.4%
FY19
NFG 30.2%
SWX 11.9%
FY20
NFG 1.9%
SWX 12.8%
FY21
NFG 36.7%
SWX 10.0%
FY22
NFG 37.3%
SWX −0.5%
FY23
NFG 34.7%
SWX 11.6%
FY24
NFG 10.8%
SWX 16.4%
FY25
NFG 35.7%
SWX 24.4%
NFG
SWX
Free cash flow
FY16
NFG $7.4M
SWX $71.0M
FY17
NFG $234M
SWX −$254M
FY18
NFG $31.3M
SWX −$237M
FY19
NFG −$94.5M
SWX −$438M
FY20
NFG $24.7M
SWX −$199M
FY21
NFG $39.8M
SWX −$604M
FY22
NFG $0.7M
SWX −$452M
FY23
NFG $227M
SWX −$257M
FY24
NFG $135M
SWX $509M
FY25
NFG $187M
SWX −$252M
NFG
SWX
Return on capital
FY16
NFG −8.8%
SWX —
FY17
NFG 10.8%
SWX 7.3%
FY18
NFG 14.1%
SWX 6.5%
FY19
NFG 9.8%
SWX 6.2%
FY20
NFG 0.5%
SWX 6.3%
FY21
NFG 10.6%
SWX 5.7%
FY22
NFG 14.6%
SWX −0.4%
FY23
NFG 10.9%
SWX 3.5%
FY24
NFG 3.3%
SWX 4.4%
FY25
NFG 10.6%
SWX 4.7%
NFG
SWX
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.