Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Southwest Airlines (LUV)

A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) recently:

• 7/29/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target lowered by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $29.00 to $28.25. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 7/26/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft. They now have a $29.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $32.00.
• 7/17/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target lowered by analysts at TD Cowen from $26.00 to $19.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 7/10/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $26.00 to $27.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 7/8/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target lowered by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $37.00 to $32.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/17/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $27.50 to $29.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 6/10/2024 – Southwest Airlines had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Melius. They now have a $26.00 price target on the stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.04. 15,546,180 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,444,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 23.2% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,565 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 31,898 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,060,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 2,567 shares of the airline’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.