Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) - What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Southwest Airlines, with nine buys, nine holds and four sells. The average 12-month price target is $47.45.
• Southwest shares opened at $40.73 and were trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, with a 12-month range of $29.26 to $55.11.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.18, equivalent to a 1.8% yield; institutional investors own 80.82% of the stock.

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.45.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $40.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.78. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $29.26 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The company has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,341 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,817,000 after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 12.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 718,567 shares of the airline's stock valued at $36,949,000 after buying an additional 77,989 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 218.8% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 93,837 shares of the airline's stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 64,402 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 75.1% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 814,820 shares of the airline's stock worth $41,898,000 after buying an additional 349,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.7% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,992 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S. commercial airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LUV. The company was founded in 1967 and began operating scheduled passenger service in 1971, initially serving cities in Texas before expanding across the United States.

Southwest primarily provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and also offers air cargo services. Its operations are centered on a large Boeing 737 fleet, supporting frequent service between major cities and regional airports.

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