Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) had its target price raised by Barclays from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the airline's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LUV. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.81.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 8.1%

Shares of LUV stock traded up $2.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,736,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,313,229. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $21.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $32.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.14. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $37.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.36) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.