Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.37.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $33.01 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -471.57, a P/E/G ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth $1,057,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,482,000. 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.