Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given New $24.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price decreased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $26.00 to $24.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $28.47.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $25.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 19.9% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,781 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.1% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,730 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,949.1% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,535 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $21,573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.