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

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reissued by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $28.00 price objective on the airline’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 13.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of -463.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.36. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after purchasing an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 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.