Jefferies Financial Group Raises Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $24.00

by · The Markets Daily

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the airline’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 21.34% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. 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. 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.21.

View Our Latest Stock Report on LUV

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $30.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.91. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a P/E/G ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southwest Airlines

(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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