Susquehanna Boosts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $30.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price points to a potential downside of 3.75% from the company’s current price.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lifted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.02.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.6 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.17. 943,279 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,503,564. The firm has a market cap of $18.65 billion, a PE ratio of 49.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.95. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $34,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.