Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to Underperform

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $20.00 price target on the airline’s stock, down from their prior price target of $28.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an inline rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $25.66 on Monday. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.