Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to Hold

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $33.00 target price on the airline's stock, up from their prior target price of $24.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would suggest a potential downside of 2.01% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.53.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.68. The stock had a trading volume of 13,344,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,156,459. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.13. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have purchased a total of 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.