Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.96.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.7 %

LUV stock opened at $32.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.26. The stock has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -466.43, a PEG ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $22.58 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 57,976 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.