Southwest Airlines (LUV) – Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV):

• 4/2/2025 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Raymond James from $40.00 to $42.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/1/2025 – Southwest Airlines was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating. They now have a $28.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/28/2025 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $27.00 to $30.00. They now have a “sell” rating on the stock.
• 3/20/2025 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group AG from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $36.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $29.00.
• 3/20/2025 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at Melius Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a $34.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $28.00.
• 3/20/2025 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at Melius from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 3/18/2025 – Southwest Airlines had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $25.00 to $30.00. They now have an “underweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/3/2025 – Southwest Airlines had its “underweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a $25.00 price target on the stock.
• 2/11/2025 – Southwest Airlines was upgraded by analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $35.00 price target on the stock.
• 2/4/2025 – Southwest Airlines had its price target lowered by analysts at Susquehanna from $38.00 to $34.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $2.97 on Thursday, reaching $28.89. 18,928,098 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,592,549. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average of $31.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.