Why Southwest Airlines Shares Are Trading Lower Today

Southwest Airlines Co LUV is trading lower Thursday after several analyst firms lowered their respective price targets on the stock. Jefferies was the only firm to downgrade the stock. 

Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu downgraded Southwest Airlines from a Buy rating to a Hold rating and lowered the price target from $60 to $45.

The Jefferies analyst pointed to the company's exposure to inflation as a reason for the downgrade.

"We continue to like LUV’s network and strategy; however, we see the potential for outperformance compared to the industry to be limited given higher exposure to inflationary pressures than peers," Kahyaoglu said.

Other Price Target Adjustments:

• Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg maintained Southwest Airlines with a Buy rating and lowered the price target from $64 to $60.
• Susquehanna analyst Christopher Stathoulopoulos maintained Southwest Airlines with a Positive rating and lowered the price target from $56 to $52.
• MKM Partners analyst Conor Cunningham maintained Southwest Airlines with a Buy rating and lowered the price target from $56 to $54.
• Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker maintained Southwest Airlines with an Overweight rating and lowered the price target from $71 to $65.

Related Link: Expert Ratings For Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines is the largest domestic carrier in the United States, as measured by the number of originating passengers boarded.

LUV Price Action: Southwest Airlines has traded as high as $64.75 and as low as $42.39 over a 52-week period.

The stock was down 3.555 at $43.66 Thursday afternoon.

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