Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the airline’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential downside of 1.73% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.5%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $34.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.12, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $1,652,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,842,000 after acquiring an additional 18,270 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.3% in the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,218 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 9,739 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $530,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $17,791,000 after purchasing an additional 23,381 shares in the last quarter. 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.