Bank of America Begins Coverage on Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in a report published on Monday, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $33.00 target price on the airline's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.91. 5,570,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,386,426. The firm has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -427.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $22.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline's stock worth $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline's stock valued at $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.