Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the airline’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 11.84% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LUV. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.54.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $34.03 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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 bought and sold shares of the business. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of 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 period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 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.