UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the airline’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 14.15% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LUV. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.08.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $33.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a PE ratio of -482.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Doliver Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $276,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $20,421,000 after acquiring an additional 21,805 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. 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.