Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Barclays from $32.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the airline’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.40% from the stock’s current price.

LUV has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.61.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.18 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -488.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.