Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Now Covered by Bank of America

Bank of America began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Monday morning, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $33.00 price target on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of 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. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.31.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $30.40. The company had a trading volume of 863,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,346,625. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a PE ratio of -427.29, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.21. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $22.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current 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 trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

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

About Southwest Airlines

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.