Citigroup Cuts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $23.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a sell rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.88.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $24.85 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock worth $95,499,000 after buying an additional 2,641,564 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,724,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.