Brokerages Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Price Target at $31.72

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.02.

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 3.8 %

NYSE LUV opened at $33.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.