Susquehanna Raises Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $30.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective hoisted by Susquehanna from $25.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on LUV. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.02.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE LUV opened at $30.62 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a PE ratio of 235.56, a P/E/G ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 553.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $34,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.