Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Lowered to $27.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price decreased by analysts at Susquehanna from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.42% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LUV. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $27.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.42. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The firm has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 91,675.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,296,139 shares of the airline’s stock worth $515,021,000 after acquiring an additional 15,279,472 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,544,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444,279 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,991,802 shares of the airline’s stock worth $715,615,000 after acquiring an additional 6,244,136 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,556,536 shares of the airline’s stock worth $69,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $44,210,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently 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.