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

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.52.

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of LUV opened at $34.84 on Monday. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (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, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

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.