Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given New $38.00 Price Target at Susquehanna

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Susquehanna from $33.00 to $38.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.28% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four 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.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $1.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,067,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,913,755. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -466.86, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.