Stock fluctuations lead to lower rating

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Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 10:59 a.m.

An increase in Southwest Airline's stock price has led an analyst to downgrade his rating of the stock.

Samuel Buttrick of New York-based PaineWebber Inc. downgraded the stock's rating from "attractive" to "buy" on Friday. The announcement came a day after Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown upgraded its rating of Southwest from "buy" to "strong buy."

"There's nothing fancy about it, it was strictly a rating based on the fluctuating stock price," Buttrick said.

He said his rating of Southwest has changed three times since August while the stock price has bounced between $14.50 and $21. Today, the stock was trading at $17.69, down 12.5 cents.

Of 15 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research, eight give Southwest a "strong buy" rating, two give it "moderate buy" and five list it at "hold."

Representatives of the Dallas-based airline, which is the largest air carrier at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, said they do not comment on stock prices and analyst ratings.