Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives $30.96 Average Price Target from Analysts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.96.

LUV has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company'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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.03. The stock had a trading volume of 6,502,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,299,749. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -466.43, a P/E/G ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $22.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.