UBS Group Upgrades Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to “Neutral”

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was upgraded by UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $36.00 target price on the airline’s stock, up from their previous target price of $29.00. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.32% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.37. The stock has a market cap of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWC Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during 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. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. 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.