Brokerages Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) PT at $31.72

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.02.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWC Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 55,458 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 3.8 %

LUV opened at $33.63 on Monday. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.10 and its 200-day moving average is $31.31. The company has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.