Brokerages Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) PT at $30.96

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.96.

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.42 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The company has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -463.07, a PEG ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.36.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after acquiring an additional 64,284 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.