UBS Group Reiterates Sell Rating for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

UBS Group reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $27.00 price objective on the airline’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LUV. Susquehanna lifted their price target 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. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.5 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.72. The company has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of -456.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly 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. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $120,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 34.9% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,607 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 3,775 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 188,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 35,996 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.5% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,756 shares of the airline’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $286,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.