Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the airline's stock. Barclays's price target indicates a potential upside of 22.07% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LUV. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.27.

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Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $26.22. The stock had a trading volume of 13,412,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,863,876. The company has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.41, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline's stock worth $95,499,000 after buying an additional 2,641,564 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $57,724,000. 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.