Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) Sell Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at UBS Group in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $27.00 target price on the airline’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 16.74% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $32.43 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.69. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -463.29, a PEG ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,963,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.