Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Rating Upgraded by Melius

Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LUV. Raymond James raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $34.16 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.33. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.45, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $2,963,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $1,751,000. 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.