Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Lowered to $25.00 at Susquehanna

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 6.86% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LUV. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $26.84 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.20 and its 200-day moving average is $28.57. The firm 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Motco raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

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.