Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Rating) had its target price lowered by analysts at Barclays from $58.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the airline's stock. Barclays's price target points to a potential upside of 41.32% from the stock's previous close.
Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 4th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $48.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $57.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.56.
NYSE:LUV traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,158,620. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $34.36 and a fifty-two week high of $56.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.56 and a 200-day moving average of $43.56.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The airline reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.02. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 3.17% and a negative return on equity of 4.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.72) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
In related news, Director John T. Montford sold 2,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $105,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 42.4% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 20,268 shares of the airline's stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 6,038 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 132,894 shares of the airline's stock worth $6,086,000 after buying an additional 18,624 shares during the period. City State Bank raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 2,985 shares of the airline's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 44,072 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 22,931 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares in the last quarter. 76.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Southwest Airlines (Get Rating)
Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provide scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated a total fleet of 728 Boeing 737 aircrafts; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as 10 near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
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