Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Trading Down 4.4% – Should You Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) fell 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $29.16 and last traded at $29.39. 4,522,519 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 9,365,936 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 228.02, a P/E/G ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average is $28.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 553.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 94.0% during the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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