Analysts Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) PT at $30.33

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.33.

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.50 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 234.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.09.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

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.