Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Now Covered by Analysts at HSBC

Investment analysts at HSBC started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm set a "hold" rating and a $27.80 price target on the airline's stock. HSBC's target price indicates a potential downside of 0.61% from the stock's previous close.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.10.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $27.97. The stock had a trading volume of 9,524,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,003,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.85 and a 200-day moving average of $28.70. The company has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,544,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444,279 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline's stock valued at $311,634,000 after acquiring an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline's stock valued at $219,465,000 after acquiring an additional 460,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline's stock worth $179,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.