Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Trading Down 4.5% – What’s Next?

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) fell 4.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $31.31 and last traded at $31.33. 2,290,800 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 5,982,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.5 %

The company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -451.94, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.81 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. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date 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 the firm’s 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 owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $523,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.