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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Cowen lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $67.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, July 29th. Susquehanna raised Southwest Airlines from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Cowen lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $67.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Friday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $62.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.06.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:LUV traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.37. 128,652 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,937,347. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.00. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $34.36 and a 1-year high of $56.33. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $38.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.35.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.35) EPS. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 67.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Montford sold 2,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $105,110.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,064,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.