Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.78.

Several brokerages recently commented on LUV. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The company has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of -465.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.43.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 57,976 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.