Wall Street Zen Upgrades Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to “Buy”

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LUV. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.29.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 3.4%

LUV opened at $54.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 64.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $54.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,183 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock worth $389,879,000 after buying an additional 1,459,235 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.9% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,763,935 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $349,182,000 after acquiring an additional 98,290 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $328,305,000 after acquiring an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after acquiring an additional 577,326 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.