Susquehanna Cuts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $25.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price cut by Susquehanna from $34.00 to $25.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the airline’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on LUV. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.27.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 15.5 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $28.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.50. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $608,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.