Southwest Airlines' (LUV) "Overweight" Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $42.00 target price on the airline's stock.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.56. The stock had a trading volume of 8,154,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,105,735. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -481.00, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 383 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.