Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Cut to $26.00 by Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective reduced by Sanford C. Bernstein from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a market perform rating on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.24.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $27.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.27 and its 200 day moving average is $28.63. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.