Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $28.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price boosted by TD Cowen from $25.00 to $28.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.61.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.18 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.38 and its 200 day moving average is $29.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a PE ratio of -488.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 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.