Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Boosted on Revenue Momentum

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) had its rating upgraded by Soleil Securities, citing strong revenue momentum and their patient handling of the AirTran acquisition.

Soleil said, "First, revenue momentum remains strong and suggest upside to our 2011 forecast, which reflects much higher fuel prices than before - prices suggested by management that are higher than our reading of the forward curve. A second driver of the upgrade is a stronger sense that Southwest is going to handle the AirTran acquisition with a very light touch, taking their time in integrating it and reducing merger integration risk in the process while driving revenue benefits early on via increased connecting opportunities."

Southwest Airlines was upgraded to a "Buy" rating, and was trading at $12.85, up $0.21, or 1.66 percent, as of 11:55 AM EST. Soleil has a price target of $15 on them.