Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given “Sell” Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $28.00 price target on the airline’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LUV. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.8 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -461.86, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $826,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,496,000. Brown Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 29,919 shares of the airline’s stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 101,605 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.