Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Earns Sell Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $28.00 target price on the airline’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on LUV. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.47. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of -465.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $37,000. 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.