Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $30.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target upped by research analysts at Citigroup from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the airline’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 11.84% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.54.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $34.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.50. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. 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.