Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $25.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target increased by TD Cowen from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a hold rating on the airline’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a strong sell rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays boosted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Melius restated a sell rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, June 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $30.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 2,468,983 shares of the airline’s stock worth $71,304,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,551,000. 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.