Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on LUV. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $56.00 in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $41.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.93 and its 200-day moving average is $41.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $28.98 and a 52 week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 954.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 127,331 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 115,251 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at about $669,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 107,640 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 40.7% during the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,070 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.