Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $45.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Southwest Airlines traded as high as $44.69 and last traded at $44.6870, with a volume of 114496 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.92.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on LUV. Citigroup increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.11.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $25,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 81.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 110.77%.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.