Brokerages Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Price Target at $30.33

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.33.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. Citigroup lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $29.02 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 223.25, a PEG ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 553.89%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $609,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,065,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after buying an additional 64,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.