Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Trading 6.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) shares rose 6.4% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. UBS Group now has a $73.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $51.00. Southwest Airlines traded as high as $54.32 and last traded at $54.4030. Approximately 4,956,862 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 10,257,155 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.11.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $57.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $328,305,000 after buying an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $172,038,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,753,183 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $143,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 64.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 6.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.71%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.