Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Receives Sell Rating from UBS Group

UBS Group restated their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $27.00 price objective on the airline’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of -462.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.80. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. 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.