Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.31.

LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LUV opened at $32.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.28. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -458.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caas Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,000. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 119,113 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after buying an additional 11,200 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,681 shares of the airline’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,043 shares of the airline’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors 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.