Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on LUV. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $27.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.45. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 49.9% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,887 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 3,958 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $274,000. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 17,456 shares of the airline’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. 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.