Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Raised to $29.00 at Citigroup

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target upped by Citigroup from $27.50 to $29.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the airline’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LUV. Melius reiterated a sell rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to an underperform rating and cut their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Argus restated a hold rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a buy rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $28.77 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 112,859 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 9,660 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $831,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock worth $22,506,000 after purchasing an additional 163,544 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 237,665 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after buying an additional 59,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $330,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.