Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.82.

A number of research firms have commented on LUV. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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, Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 7.0 %

LUV opened at $27.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Motco grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

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.