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

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.96.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $33.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -480.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.84.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,963 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline’s stock worth $20,421,000 after purchasing an additional 21,805 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $1,057,000. Institutional investors 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.