Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given “Outperform” Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their outperform rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $30.00 price objective on the airline’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $33.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.71.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $26.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is 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.