Analysts Set Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Price Target at $28.50

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.47.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Melius reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE LUV opened at $25.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.91. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors 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.