Citigroup Reiterates "Sell" Rating for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

Citigroup reissued their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has a $29.50 target price on the airline's stock, down from their previous target price of $31.50.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of LUV traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $32.16. The company had a trading volume of 9,662,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,758,764. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.09. The stock has a market cap of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of -459.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) 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 firm 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%. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value 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 represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $523,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

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.