Analysts Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) PT at $30.10

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.10.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $26.84 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.01 and a 200 day moving average of $29.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.