Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $20.00 price target on the airline's stock, down from their prior price target of $28.00.
A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.71.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7 %
Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,680,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,868,521. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $30.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.56.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.27) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.
Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Southwest Airlines
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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