Southwest Airlines (LUV) – Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates

A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV):

• 10/15/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $27.00 to $32.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 10/9/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Susquehanna from $25.00 to $30.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 10/9/2024 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a $32.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $24.00.
• 10/3/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $28.25 to $31.50. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 10/2/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $20.00 to $24.00. They now have an “underperform” rating on the stock.
• 9/30/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $19.00 to $25.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 9/19/2024 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas to a “strong sell” rating.
• 9/3/2024 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $35.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $30.00.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $30.73 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 236.40, a P/E/G ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.