Barclays Trims Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Target Price to $26.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $30.00 to $26.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the airline’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.53.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $26.86. The stock had a trading volume of 4,034,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,623,183. The stock has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.53. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,544,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444,279 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock worth $311,634,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock worth $219,465,000 after buying an additional 460,480 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after buying an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,866,933 shares of the airline’s stock worth $131,748,000 after buying an additional 32,089 shares during the period. 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.