Rothschild & Co Redburn Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Key Points

• Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on Southwest from $27 to $35 but maintained a sell rating, implying about a 24.24% downside from the prior close.
• Several other firms have lifted targets, yet the sell-side consensus remains a Hold with an average price target of $48.29.
• Shares traded at $46.20 (down ~2%) after Southwest reported a slight EPS beat ($0.58 vs. $0.56) while revenue missed, and institutional investors own roughly 80.82% of the stock.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $27.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sell" rating on the airline's stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn's target price would indicate a potential downside of 24.24% from the stock's previous close.

LUV has been the subject of several other research reports. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $57.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.29.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE LUV traded down $0.95 on Thursday, reaching $46.20. The stock had a trading volume of 483,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,137,684. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.23. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline's stock worth $393,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,183 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline's stock worth $389,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459,235 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,763,935 shares of the airline's stock valued at $349,182,000 after buying an additional 98,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline's stock worth $328,305,000 after buying an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.