Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Now Covered by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a market perform rating and a $43.00 price objective on the airline’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $38.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.78. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $38.70.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $484,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,562 shares of the airline’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth approximately $62,340,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 80,668 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,574,000 after purchasing an additional 9,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 10.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,995 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.