JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $26.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 11.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.71, a PEG ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Capital World Investors increased 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 valued at $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.