Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $33.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the airline’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 1.73% from the company’s current price.

LUV has been the subject of several other research reports. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $34.60 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,857 shares of the airline’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,791 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing 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.