Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) “Underperform” Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $31.00 price target on the airline’s stock, down from their previous price target of $33.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LUV. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.19 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -459.90, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the second 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 period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.