Bank of America Reaffirms “Underperform” Rating for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

Bank of America restated their underperform rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has a $31.00 target price on the airline’s stock, down from their previous target price of $33.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.19 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.