Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Receives Outperform Rating from Raymond James

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by investment analysts at Raymond James in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $30.00 price target on the airline's stock, down from their prior price target of $33.00. Raymond James' price target indicates a potential upside of 10.97% from the company's current price.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.18.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $27.04. 16,105,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,782,478. The firm's 50 day moving average is $30.34 and its 200-day moving average is $28.53. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.27) EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Motco raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.