Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $29.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of -468.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during 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 earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.5% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,461 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,073,000 after buying an additional 27,314 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,725 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $497,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $295,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.