Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $28.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the airline’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.44% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $31.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.02, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.19. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $37.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 106,398 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after buying an additional 7,067 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,950 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 44,930 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. 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.