Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.53. The stock had a trading volume of 11,542,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,429,871. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.38) EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

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.