Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Raised to $32.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target increased by analysts at Barclays from $27.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the airline’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 3.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.03. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.10, a P/E/G ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,079,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 99.4% during the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,271 shares of the airline’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,124 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $457,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.