Susquehanna Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective increased by Susquehanna from $33.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the airline’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -468.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.