Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Given Sell Rating at UBS Group

UBS Group restated their sell rating on shares of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $27.00 target price on the airline’s stock.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.96 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -456.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sfmg LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,057,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,482,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth $826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.