TD Cowen Cuts Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $25.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target decreased by TD Cowen from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a hold rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.18.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $27.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.56. The company has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during 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.