Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) “Sell” Rating Reiterated at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reissued their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $28.00 price objective on the airline’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.8 %

LUV opened at $32.33 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of -461.86, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15. 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 50-day moving average price of $30.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.51.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.