Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the airline’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on LUV. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $37.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.31, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $38.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $25,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.