Bank of America Reiterates “Underperform” Rating for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Bank of America in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $31.00 price objective on the airline’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $33.00. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 3.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LUV. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE LUV opened at $32.19 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of -459.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.