Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Susquehanna Analyst Says

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $35.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the airline’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.95% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.11.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $42.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $43.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.15.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $328,305,000 after acquiring an additional 9,716,160 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock worth $393,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,183 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $62,340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $389,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $41,663,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.