Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.43.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $30.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.02. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.76, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.36) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock valued at $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock valued at $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

About Southwest Airlines

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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