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

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Susquehanna from $33.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.89% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LUV. TD Cowen raised 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -468.43, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.76 and its 200 day moving average is $29.93.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents 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 Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,461 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,073,000 after acquiring an additional 27,314 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,725 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 3,691 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $497,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $295,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.