TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $47.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the airline’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.36% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on LUV. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $57.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.51.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 489,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,540,624. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.47. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $28.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11. The firm has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.1% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 11,414 shares of the airline’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,506 shares of the airline’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 89,224 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the airline’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.