Citigroup Raises Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $31.50

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $28.25 to $31.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the airline’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LUV. Melius restated a sell rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a strong sell rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $29.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $31.25 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.92. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $35.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.