Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) Hold Rating Reiterated at UBS Group

UBS Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $43.00 target price on the airline’s stock, up from their prior target price of $33.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on LUV. Citigroup initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.29.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.0%

LUV stock opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 63.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.17. 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’s fifty day moving average is $33.54 and its 200 day moving average is $32.96. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $42.20.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued 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 during the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,716,160 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after buying an additional 3,753,183 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth $62,340,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth $50,433,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.