Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.53.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,539,000 after buying an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $609,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,872,000 after buying an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $311,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $33.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.36) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

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.