Barclays Increases Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $27.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target lifted by analysts at Barclays from $26.00 to $27.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the airline’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.11% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.36.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $26.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.77 and its 200 day moving average is $29.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 243,546 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after buying an additional 36,283 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,325.4% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,536 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 20,955 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 18,740 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,447,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,091,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.