Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives $31.96 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.96.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna lifted their target price 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $2,963,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $33.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.79. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -480.14, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given 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 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

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.