Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective upped by analysts at Raymond James from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the airline’s stock. Raymond James’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 32.35% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,602,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,797,298. 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 market cap of $18.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.32 and a 200-day moving average of $31.62. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 worth $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock worth $95,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,564 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,724,000. Hedge funds and other 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.