Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Rating Increased to Hold at Melius

Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LUV. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.0 %

LUV opened at $34.84 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. CWC Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 55,458 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $131,000. 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.