Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $24.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has an underperform rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Melius reissued a sell rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a strong sell rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $29.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.4 %

LUV opened at $31.25 on Wednesday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $27.94 and its 200 day moving average is $27.93. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.60, a PEG ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,223,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 20,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after buying an additional 64,284 shares in the last quarter. 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.