Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Jefferies Financial Group

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was downgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $20.00 price target on the airline’s stock, down from their prior price target of $28.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 26.01% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.8 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $27.03 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.34 and its 200-day moving average is $28.56. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.27) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.