Southwest Airlines - LUV Stock Forecast, Price & News

Southwest Airlines Co. operates as a passenger airline company that provide scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated a total fleet of 728 Boeing 737 aircrafts; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as 10 near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos. It also provides inflight entertainment and connectivity services on Wi-Fi enabled aircrafts; and Rapid Rewards loyalty program that enables program members to earn points for dollars spent on Southwest base fares. In addition, the company offers a suite of digital platforms to support customers' travel needs, including websites and apps; and SWABIZ, an online booking tool. Further, it provides ancillary services, such as Southwest's EarlyBird Check-In, upgraded boarding, and transportation of pets and unaccompanied minors. The company was incorporated in 1967 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $67.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 29th. Susquehanna raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $48.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.87. 4,452,918 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,753,813. The company's 50 day moving average price is $38.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.26. The firm has a market cap of $23.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.00. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $34.36 and a 52 week high of $56.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The airline reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.69 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 67.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.35) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director John T. Montford sold 2,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total transaction of $105,110.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,064,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.