Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Picked Up by Analysts at Tigress Financial

Analysts at Tigress Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the airline’s stock. Tigress Financial‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 46.19% from the company’s previous close.

LUV has been the topic of several other reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $59.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $42.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $29.26 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The airline reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 18.05% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business’s revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,509,179,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,538,382,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,763,154 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $216,472,000 after buying an additional 117,833 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $234,872,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 2,260,841 shares of the airline’s stock worth $94,141,000 after buying an additional 275,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.