Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $30.00 at Susquehanna

Key Points

• Susquehanna raised its price target for Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating, indicating a potential upside of 0.77% from the current stock price.
• Southwest Airlines reported earnings per share of $0.43 for the last quarter, which missed the consensus estimate by $0.08, reflecting a 2.1% revenue decline compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has approved a $2 billion stock repurchase plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock, suggesting management believes the shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Susquehanna from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the airline's stock. Susquehanna's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.77% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.1%

LUV opened at $29.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.42 and a 200-day moving average of $31.25. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,744 shares of the airline's stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $268,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $1,675,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 347,826 shares of the airline's stock valued at $11,694,000 after purchasing an additional 72,281 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 776,839 shares of the airline's stock valued at $26,117,000 after purchasing an additional 233,233 shares during the period. 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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