Brokerages Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Target Price at $32.31

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.31.

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.4 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.40. 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 has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -445.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $2,787,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $609,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,234 shares of the airline’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 65,473 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,229,000 after buying an additional 2,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.