Sanford C. Bernstein Lowers Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Price Target to $26.00

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its price target cut by Sanford C. Bernstein from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the airline’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $30.24.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $27.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.62. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $1,682,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 15.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,419,000 after buying an additional 64,284 shares in the last quarter. Monetta Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $876,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.0% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 618,601 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $18,057,000 after buying an additional 17,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 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.