Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Raymond James

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price upped by Raymond James from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on LUV. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.96.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $33.62 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.46 and a 200 day moving average of $29.76. The stock has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -480.29, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. 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.