Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Shares Up 3.9%

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)’s share price shot up 3.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $29.36 and last traded at $29.30. 6,905,258 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 9,699,880 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Melius reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, June 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.12 and a 200 day moving average of $28.60.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. 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.