TD Cowen Lowers Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $48.00

Key Points

• TD Cowen lowered Southwest Airlines’ price target from $53 to $48 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying 18.42% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with nine Buy, nine Hold and four Sell ratings; the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $49.30 target price.
• Southwest reported quarterly EPS of $0.94, beating estimates of $0.52, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $8.72 billion. The stock was recently trading at $40.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the airline's stock. TD Cowen's target price indicates a potential upside of 18.42% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LUV. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.30.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4%

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $40.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 757,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,769,742. The company has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.49. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.250-4.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,509,179,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,538,382,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $234,872,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $172,038,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest's operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

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