Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Shares Gap Down to $28.51

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $28.51, but opened at $27.54. Southwest Airlines shares last traded at $28.09, with a volume of 4,191,225 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.40. The firm has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock worth $10,929,000 after buying an additional 103,834 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,635,000 after purchasing an additional 124,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock worth $311,634,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.