Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $20.00 target price on the airline’s stock, down from their previous target price of $28.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 22.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.4 %

LUV opened at $25.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.58.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.27) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 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.