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

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LUV. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.81.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.6%

LUV traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.13. 10,373,601 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,256,650. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.68, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $37.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $32.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.12.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,545 shares of the airline's stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $1,859,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,506 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $40,541,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,374 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.