Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on LUV. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a hold rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $27.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.38) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,644,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 103,834 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $22,506,000 after acquiring an additional 163,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.