Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $31.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on LUV. UBS Group increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.63.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a PE ratio of 49.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,394 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 7,924 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $294,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,720 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.