UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price raised by equities researchers at UBS Group from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the airline’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 11.56% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of -468.43, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.93.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.