Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given Underweight Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their underweight rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a $25.00 target price on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 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, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.94 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 business. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.