Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.72.

A number of equities analysts have commented on LUV shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $31.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.12 and its 200 day moving average is $31.24. The stock has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.