Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) PT Lowered to $25.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price trimmed by TD Cowen from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a buy rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $31.18.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.09. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53. The firm has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,544,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,444,279 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,556,536 shares of the airline’s stock worth $69,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,361 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $29,789,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $24,404,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.