The Goldman Sachs Group Reiterates Sell Rating for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

The Goldman Sachs Group restated their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $28.00 price target on the airline's stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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, BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.54. 4,233,729 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,253,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.39. The stock has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -460.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines 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 owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock valued at $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline's stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. 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.