NYSE:LUV

Southwest Airlines (LUV) Stock Forecast, Price & News

$27.20

+0.01 (+0.04%)

(As of 10:28 AM ET)

Compare

Today's Range: $27.05
▼
$27.40
50-Day Range: $26.56
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$36.26
52-Week Range: $26.46
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$40.38

Volume: 844,739 shs
Average Volume: 7.10 million shs
Market Capitalization: $16.20 billion

P/E Ratio: 30.91
Dividend Yield: 2.65%
Price Target: $36.49

Southwest Airlines MarketRank™ Forecast

Analyst Rating: Hold
2.18 Rating Score
Upside/Downside: 33.2% Upside
$36.21 Price Target
Short Interest: Healthy
4.01% of Shares Sold Short
Dividend Strength: Weak
Based on Four Factors
Sustainability: -7.11
Upright™ Environmental Score
News Sentiment: 0.48
Based on 24 Articles This Week
Insider Trading: N/A
Proj. Earnings Growth: 40.31%
From $1.96 to $2.75 Per Share

Overall MarketRank^™

MarketRank is calculated as an average of available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

2.95 out of 5 stars

Transportation Sector

21st out of 117 stocks

Air Transportation, Scheduled Industry

6th out of 17 stocks

4.1

Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
Southwest Airlines has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.18, and is based on 5 buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $36.21, Southwest Airlines has a forecasted upside of 33.2% from its current price of $27.18.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
Southwest Airlines has been the subject of 13 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

3.0

Short Interest

Percentage of Shares Shorted
4.01% of the outstanding shares of Southwest Airlines have been sold short.
Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover
Southwest Airlines has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.
Change versus previous month
Short interest in Southwest Airlines has recently increased by 14.24%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

1.7

Dividend Strength

Dividend Yield
Southwest Airlines pays a meaningful dividend of 2.66%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.
Dividend Growth
Southwest Airlines does not have a long track record of dividend growth.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of Southwest Airlines is 81.82%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.
Dividend Sustainability
Based on earnings estimates, Southwest Airlines will have a dividend payout ratio of 26.18% next year. This indicates that Southwest Airlines will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

0.4

Sustainability and ESG

Overall ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Score
Southwest Airlines has received a -81.64% net impact score from Upright. The largest negative impact of Southwest Airlines in category "GHG emissions" seems to be driven mostly by its "Low-cost air travel on domestic flights", "Economy air travel on domestic flights", and "Low-cost air travel on international flights" products. See details.
Environmental Sustainability
The Environmental Impact score for Southwest Airlines is -7.11.

3.0

News and Social Media Coverage

News Sentiment
Southwest Airlines has a news sentiment score of 0.48. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Transportation companies.
News Coverage This Week
MarketBeat has tracked 24 news articles for Southwest Airlines this week, compared to 23 articles on an average week.
Search Interest
52 people have searched for LUV on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 2% compared to the previous 30 days.
MarketBeat Follows
29 people have added Southwest Airlines to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 222% compared to the previous 30 days.

1.7

Company Ownership

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling
In the past three months, Southwest Airlines insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 0.30% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
78.22% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

3.8

Earnings and Valuation

Earnings Growth
Earnings for Southwest Airlines are expected to grow by 40.31% in the coming year, from $1.96 to $2.75 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 30.89, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 110.22.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 30.89, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Transportation sector average P/E ratio of about 10.43.
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
Southwest Airlines has a PEG Ratio of 0.57. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.
Price to Book Value per Share Ratio
Southwest Airlines has a P/B Ratio of 1.51. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

See Top Rated MarketRank™ Stocks Here

About Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Founded in 1971, Southwest Airlines Co. is one of the world's most respected and awarded airlines. The company is known for offering customers great value and excellent service. Currently, Southwest Airlines Co. services 121 airports in 11 countries. The year 2021 marked the company's 51st anniversary, and it continues to work toward democratizing the sky by providing a reliable, low-cost air travel experience. More air travelers flying nonstop in the U.S. fly Southwest Airlines Co. than any other major airline.

Southwest Airlines operates a large fleet of 771 Boeing 737 aircraft, making it the largest owner and operator of 737s in the world. It has traditionally only flown Boeing 737s, though it has leased other Boeing models for profitability and route testing. Southwest Airlines Co.'s fleet serves 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as in 10 other countries, including Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

Southwest Airlines Co. is based in Dallas and is famous for its employee-first corporate culture. The company has maintained an unprecedented record of no involuntary furloughs or layoffs in its 51-year history, providing employees stability and pride in their employer. Southwest Airlines Co. has led the industry with 47 consecutive years of profitability and growth.

Southwest Airlines Co. uses humor in its marketing, with slogans like "Love Is Still Our Field," "The Somebody Else Up There Who Loves You," "Just Plane Smart" and "You're Now Free to Move About the Country." To increase customer loyalty, the company launched a rewards program in 2011 that awards points for flights, hotel stays, car rentals and purchases at partner retailers, which consumers can redeem for free flights.

Southwest Airlines Co. has significantly influenced other low-cost carriers and the aviation industry as a whole. Its competitive strategy is to increase aircraft and employee productivity to reduce turnaround time at the gate. Ryanair and EasyJet have mirrored this rolling hub or point-to-point network strategy.

Southwest has also had a lot of industry influence through its lobbying efforts, primarily to lobby against the development of high-speed rail systems in favor of providing more point-to-point flights between major cities. However, in recent years, Southwest Airlines Co. has been affected by customer lawsuits, flight delays and cancelations and system disruptions due to not investing in newer technologies.

Southwest Airlines Co. has provided value to its shareholders for many years, having returned more than $12.9 billion through stock repurchases and dividends as of March 2020. However, in the first quarter of 2020, the company had to suspend its dividend payments due to the uncertain market and COVID-19. On December 6, 2022, the board of directors decided to reinstate its quarterly cash dividend at 18 cents per share. This reinstated dividend equaled the expected dividend when it disappeared in 2020.

Southwest Airlines Co. is a leader in the aviation industry, providing great customer service, hospitality, employee stability and value to its shareholders.

LUV Price History

30 days | 90 days | 365 days | Advanced Chart

LUV Stock News Headlines

September 29, 2023 | marketbeat.com

Delta Hopes to Soar Again with Customer Loyalty Tweaks (LUV)

Delta shares rose after CEO Ed Bastian acknowledged the company may have gone too far with changes to its loyalty program, and promised modifications.

September 12, 2023 | marketbeat.com

Southwest, American Descend as Delta, United in Holding Pattern (LUV)

The airline industry is grappling with soaring fuel costs, but Delta, United, and Panama's Copa are getting support at or above their 200-day moving averages.

October 3, 2023 | Wall Street Fundamentals (Ad)

The "Plug and Play" Model Putting Online Giants to Shame

While e-commerce has been undergoing a turbulent time, a "simple" model has grown 4X faster than Amazon over the last 3 years. Applying this model to high-margin, recession-resistant businesses has shown to be profitable. But that's just the beginning of explaining the 400+% growth - and potential - of this "diamond in the rough."

September 7, 2023 | marketbeat.com

Investigators say a blocked radio transmission led to a June close call between planes in San Diego

Investigators say a blocked radio transmission caused a close call between two passenger planes in San Diego in June

October 3, 2023 | americanbankingnews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Lowered to $50.00 at Morgan Stanley

October 2, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) is largely controlled by institutional shareholders who own 80% of the company

October 1, 2023 | msn.com

JetBlue may force American and Southwest to offer free WiFi

October 1, 2023 | americanbankingnews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Lowered to $20.00

October 3, 2023 | Wall Street Fundamentals (Ad)

The "Plug and Play" Model Putting Online Giants to Shame

October 1, 2023 | msn.com

Southwest Airlines has no rule against saving seats

September 30, 2023 | msn.com

Jefferies Maintains Southwest Airlines (LUV) Underperform Recommendation

September 29, 2023 | msn.com

Southwest Airlines crew uses intercom to address seat-saving problem

September 29, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines attempts new way to fix major boarding problem

September 29, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

United Pilots Approve 40% Pay Hike In the Largest Contract In US Airline History

September 28, 2023 | americanbankingnews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

September 27, 2023 | msn.com

Bernstein Maintains Southwest Airlines (LUV) Market Perform Recommendation

September 27, 2023 | americanbankingnews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Lowered to $28.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

September 26, 2023 | seekingalpha.com

Southwest Airlines Suffers Through Its Annus Horribilis (Rating Upgrade)

September 26, 2023 | msn.com

Airline stocks fall again, with Southwest and JetBlue shares at multiyear lows

September 26, 2023 | msn.com

Southwest Airlines Announces Major Fare Sale — But You Need To Act Fast

September 25, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines Co (LUV): A Hidden Gem in the Aviation Industry?

September 25, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines Co (LUV): Navigating Through Turbulence

September 24, 2023 | msn.com

Southwest CEO speaks out on the airline's labor woes

September 24, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines speaks out about labor woes, pilot problems

September 23, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

Southwest Airlines makes a technology fix passengers will hate

September 22, 2023 | finance.yahoo.com

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES RANKED BY FORTUNE AS ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

September 21, 2023 | bizjournals.com

'We're nowhere near that': Southwest CEO says he is confident pilots will not strike

See More Headlines

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LUV Company Calendar

Ex-Dividend for 7/12 Dividend: 6/20/2023
Dividend Payable: 7/12/2023
Last Earnings: 7/27/2023
Ex-Dividend for 9/27 Dividend: 9/05/2023
Dividend Payable: 9/27/2023
Today: 10/03/2023
Next Earnings (Confirmed): 10/26/2023
Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2023

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Industry, Sector and Symbol

Stock Exchange: NYSE
Industry: Air transportation, scheduled
Sub-Industry: Airlines
Sector: Transportation
Current Symbol: NYSE:LUV
CUSIP: 84474110
CIK: 92380
Web: www.southwest.com
Phone: (214) 792-4000
Fax: 214-792-5015
Employees: 66,656
Year Founded: 1967

Price Target and Rating

Average Stock Price Forecast: $36.21
High Stock Price Forecast: $50.00
Low Stock Price Forecast: $20.00
Forecasted Upside/Downside: +34.2%
Consensus Rating: Hold
Rating Score (0-4): 2.18
Research Coverage: 17 Analysts

Profitability

EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $0.88
Trailing P/E Ratio: 30.89
Forward P/E Ratio: 13.87
P/E Growth: 0.57
Net Income: $539 million
Net Margins: 2.31%
Pretax Margin: 2.98%
Return on Equity: 5.81%
Return on Assets: 1.73%

Debt

Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.74
Current Ratio: 1.25
Quick Ratio: 1.19

Sales & Book Value

Annual Sales: $23.81 billion
Price / Sales: 0.68
Cash Flow: $3.51 per share
Price / Cash Flow: 7.75
Book Value: $18.00 per share
Price / Book: 1.51

Miscellaneous

Outstanding Shares: 595,630,000
Free Float: 593,847,000
Market Cap: $16.19 billion
Optionable: Optionable
Beta: 1.19

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Key Executives

Mr. Gary C. Kelly (Age 68)
Exec. Chairman

Mr. Robert E. Jordan (Age 62)
CEO, Pres & Director

Ms. Tammy Romo (Age 61)
Exec. VP & CFO

Mr. Andrew M. Watterson (Age 56)
Chief Operating Officer
Comp: $1.14M

Mr. Mark R. Shaw (Age 60)
Exec. VP, Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer and Corp. Sec.
Comp: $953.96k

Mr. Ray Schuster
Managing Director of Accounting & Financial Reporting

Mr. Thomas Merritt
VP of Technology Infrastructure & Services and CTO

Ms. Lauren Woods
Sr. VP of Technology & Chief Information Officer

Ms. Linda Burke Rutherford (Age 56)
Chief Admin. & Communications Officer

Mr. Dave Harvey
VP & Chief Sales Officer

Key Competitors

View All Competitors

Insiders & Institutions

View All Insider Transactions
View All Institutional Transactions

LUV Stock - Frequently Asked Questions

Should I buy or sell Southwest Airlines stock right now?: 17 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Southwest Airlines in the last year. There are currently 2 sell ratings, 10 hold ratings and 5 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" LUV shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in LUV, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.
View LUV analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks.
What is Southwest Airlines' stock price forecast for 2023?: 17 Wall Street analysts have issued twelve-month price objectives for Southwest Airlines' shares. Their LUV share price forecasts range from $20.00 to $50.00. On average, they predict the company's stock price to reach $36.21 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 33.2% from the stock's current price.
View analysts price targets for LUV or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts.
How have LUV shares performed in 2023?: Southwest Airlines' stock was trading at $33.67 at the beginning of 2023. Since then, LUV shares have decreased by 19.3% and is now trading at $27.18.
View the best growth stocks for 2023 here.
When is Southwest Airlines' next earnings date?: The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, October 26th 2023.
View our LUV earnings forecast.
How can I listen to Southwest Airlines' earnings call?: Southwest Airlines will be holding an earnings conference call on Thursday, October 26th at 12:30 PM Eastern. Interested parties can register for or listen to the call using this link.
How were Southwest Airlines' earnings last quarter?: Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July, 27th. The airline reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.01. The airline had revenue of $7.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.98 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.31% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 5.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share.
Read the conference call transcript.
How often does Southwest Airlines pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for Southwest Airlines?: Southwest Airlines announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share on Wednesday, September 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 5th.
Read our dividend analysis for LUV.
What ETFs hold Southwest Airlines' stock?: ETFs with the largest weight of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) stock in their portfolio include U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS), Defiance Hotel, Airline, and Cruise ETF (CRUZ), iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT), ALPS Global Travel Beneficiaries ETF (JRNY), Direxion Daily Transportation Bull 3X Shares (TPOR), SPDR S&P Transportation ETF (XTN), God Bless America ETF (YALL) and Cultivar ETF (CVAR).

Is Southwest Airlines a good dividend stock?: Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.66%. The dividend payout ratio is 81.82%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, LUV will have a dividend payout ratio of 26.18% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for LUV.
What is Gary C. Kelly's approval rating as Southwest Airlines' CEO?: 1,507 employees have rated Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer Gary C. Kelly on Glassdoor.com. Gary C. Kelly has an approval rating of 94% among the company's employees. This puts Gary C. Kelly in the top 30% of approval ratings compared to other CEOs of publicly-traded companies.
What other stocks do shareholders of Southwest Airlines own?: Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Southwest Airlines investors own include Delta Air Lines (DAL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Walt Disney (DIS), Boeing (BA), Bank of America (BAC), AT&T (T), Tesla (TSLA), Alibaba Group (BABA), Micron Technology (MU) and Netflix (NFLX).
What is Southwest Airlines' stock symbol?: Southwest Airlines trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "LUV."
How do I buy shares of Southwest Airlines?: Shares of LUV stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.
What is Southwest Airlines' stock price today?: One share of LUV stock can currently be purchased for approximately $27.18.
How much money does Southwest Airlines make?: Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion and generates $23.81 billion in revenue each year. The airline earns $539 million in net income (profit) each year or $0.88 on an earnings per share basis.
How many employees does Southwest Airlines have?: The company employs 66,656 workers across the globe.
Does Southwest Airlines have any subsidiaries?: The following companies are subsidiares of Southwest Airlines: AirTran Airways, AirTran Airways 717 Leasing Corporation, AirTran Airways Inc., AirTran Holdings LLC, Morris Air, Southwest Jet Fuel Co., TranStar Airlines, and Triple Crown Assurance Co..
Read More
How can I contact Southwest Airlines?: Southwest Airlines' mailing address is 2702 LOVE FIELD DRIVE P O BOX 36611, DALLAS TX, 75235. The official website for the company is www.southwest.com. The airline can be reached via phone at (214) 792-4000 or via fax at 214-792-5015.

This page (NYSE:LUV) was last updated on 10/3/2023 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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