Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $47.45 According to Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.41.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $38.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $29.26 and a 1-year high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.250-4.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 44.17%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth $384,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 33.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,683 shares of the airline’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,341 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 718,567 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $36,949,000 after acquiring an additional 77,989 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 93,837 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 64,402 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a major U.S. passenger airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company provides scheduled air transportation for leisure and business travelers, with service connecting cities throughout the United States and selected destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Southwest is known for its predominantly domestic network and point-to-point operating model. In addition to passenger flights, the company offers ancillary services and air cargo transportation.