Citigroup Raises Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $30.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the airline’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 10.65% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LUV. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.54.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $33.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.33 and its 200 day moving average is $31.54. 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 quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at about $212,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,961 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,784,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 38,795 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $247,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.