Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.43.

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $614,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $608,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $523,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE LUV opened at $31.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.33, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.22 and a 200-day moving average of $31.02. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.