Morgan Stanley Raises Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $48.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the airline’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 25.67% from the company’s current price.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.88.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:LUV opened at $38.20 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.78. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $38.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.76, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%.The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.