Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $33.58, but opened at $32.72. Southwest Airlines shares last traded at $32.48, with a volume of 3,188,446 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.62. The firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 55,458 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 10,123 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $638,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. 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.