Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. 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. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $33.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $37.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.34.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owned 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was 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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 67.8% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during 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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