Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $20.00 price objective on the airline’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $28.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an inline rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.1 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $25.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.56. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.27) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Motco grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.