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

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.43.

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $614,000. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $608,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $523,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $30.07 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a PE ratio of 41.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. 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 moving average is $29.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.02.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.36) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 84.71%.

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.