Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Cut to $26.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the airline’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.71.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $26.84 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.57.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Motco lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.