Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Rating Increased to Hold at Melius

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was upgraded by equities researchers at Melius from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna dropped their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.37. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 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.