Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) Underweight Rating Reiterated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their underweight rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $25.00 target price on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $29.94 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.10. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Southwest Airlines

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.