Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on LUV. Barclays lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $27.54 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The stock has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.10 and a 200-day moving average of $28.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.