Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given Sell Rating at Citigroup

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reissued by investment analysts at Citigroup in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $29.50 price target on the airline’s stock, down from their prior price target of $31.50. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential downside of 8.37% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -459.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.10. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 450 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.