Analysts Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Price Target at $33.13

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.13.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $37.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.36) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,738 shares of the airline’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $719,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 271.2% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,621 shares of the airline’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 17,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 65,558 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,127,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.