Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $28.18, but opened at $32.28. Southwest Airlines shares last traded at $30.52, with a volume of 8,902,817 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LUV. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in 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.