Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Upgraded at Barclays

by · The Cerbat Gem

Barclays upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $56.00 price target on the airline’s stock, up from their prior price target of $34.00.

LUV has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $43.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.94.

View Our Latest Report on Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:LUV opened at $40.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $43.54.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $328,305,000 after acquiring an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,753,183 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,340,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth $56,244,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $389,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459,235 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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