Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Raised to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $35.00 price target on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $29.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.