Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Rating Upgraded by Melius Research

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was upgraded by investment analysts at Melius Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $34.00 price target on the airline’s stock, up from their prior price target of $28.00. Melius Research’s target price points to a potential downside of 2.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on LUV. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.37. The company has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.