Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given New $58.00 Price Target at Barclays

Key Points

• Barclays lowered Southwest Airlines’ price target to $58 from $65 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying 48.16% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Southwest has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $48.05, with nine Buy, nine Hold, and four Sell ratings.
• Southwest exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.94 in EPS versus the $0.52 consensus estimate and $8.72 billion in revenue. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s shares.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at Barclays from $65.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the airline's stock. Barclays's target price suggests a potential upside of 48.16% from the stock's previous close.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.05.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $39.15 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $44.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.13.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.The firm's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.250-4.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.750 EPS. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 3.28 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. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,509,179,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $1,538,382,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $234,872,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $172,038,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a major U.S. passenger airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Operating under the Southwest Airlines brand, the company provides scheduled air transportation for domestic and international travelers and also offers air cargo services.

Southwest was founded in 1967 and began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The airline expanded its network across the United States and now serves numerous destinations in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and other nearby international markets.

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