Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Receives Sell Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $29.50 price objective on the airline’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $31.50.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LUV. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LUV opened at $32.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.02 and its 200 day moving average is $30.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of -459.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its 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 negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.