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

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.78.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 284,312 shares of the airline’s stock worth $9,559,000 after buying an additional 67,307 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 108.8% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the airline’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 98,593 shares during the period. WS Management Lllp purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $20,172,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 35,624 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 11,173 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $30.15 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.87, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.74.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.