Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Now Covered by Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research note released on Monday. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $33.00 price target on the airline’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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 report 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.31.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.26 on Monday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $22.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.24. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -446.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 57,976 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southwest Airlines

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.