Barclays Cuts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $26.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price objective cut by analysts at Barclays from $32.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the airline’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 1.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on LUV. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities research 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 MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.54.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $26.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $95,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,564 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,724,000. 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.