Raymond James Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Key Points

• Raymond James cut Southwest Airlines’ price target from $60 to $54 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying about 33% upside from the stock’s prior close.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Southwest has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $49.01, based on nine Buy, nine Hold and four Sell ratings.
• Southwest shares rose 0.5% to $40.60, despite trading below their 50-day moving average. The airline recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while institutional investors own approximately 80.8% of its stock.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from $60.00 to $54.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the airline's stock. Raymond James Financial's price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.01% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.22 on Monday, hitting $40.60. 1,529,696 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,774,999. The company has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,509,179,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,661,488,000 after buying an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,538,382,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline's stock worth $218,175,000 after purchasing an additional 577,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline's stock worth $257,423,000 after acquiring an additional 244,891 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest's operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

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