Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by stock analysts at UBS Group from $27.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the airline's stock. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.75% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $33.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,628,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,788,604. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.75 and a 200 day moving average of $31.07. The stock has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This 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 hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,668,533,000 after acquiring an additional 788,255 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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