Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.31.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caas Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $1,009,000. abrdn plc raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 119,113 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 11,200 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,681 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,043 shares of the airline’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.28. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -458.89, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

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.